The Good, The Grammy and The Ugly
by RandomFan22
Summary: The title is a HUGE hint - Just what happens with a little added fame?
1. Chapter 1

**The title of this story should be a dead giveaway. If it's not, please read the following…….**

**Disclaimer!!! The Partridge Family really was nominated as best new artist at the Grammy's I am depicting in this story (pretty cool for a group that didn't exist – hmmm?). Alas, they didn't win – beaten by The Carpenters. Unfortunately (and likely wrongly as it was the #1 selling song of the year!), 'I Think I Love You' was not nominated for any awards. Obviously, Keith Partridge was not the writer of ITILY – that honor belongs to Tony Romeo, a prolific songwriter of many PF songs as well as many others. The actual winner of both Song and Record of the Year was 'Bridge Over Troubled Water'. This story is fiction and I have taken the liberty of changing the facts to suit my purposes. Isn't fiction wonderful?**

Chapter 1

Keith rolled over and tried to ignore the sound of the ringing phone. Someone would pick it up soon, right? He knew he hadn't been asleep long enough. He'd stayed up after getting home from his date with Tina to finish writing the lyrics to his latest song. It was one of the perils of writing music – it always seemed that creativity struck sometime after midnight.

As silence once again settled around him, he could feel the webs of sleep starting to overtake his brain. Unfortunately, the phone had not only woken Keith, but the rest of his sibling as well. He was rudely jarred awake for a second time by a full on screaming match between Danny and Chris in the next room. He would have yelled for them to shut up, but the argument soon ended when Danny left the room. Keith sighed his pleasure at the renewed silence when he heard a door slam and Laurie's scream of outrage, "Daniel Partridge I was next in line for the bathroom!" and Danny's muffled yet loud retort of, "You snooze, you lose."

Keith rolled over and pulled his pillow over his head in hopes that it would muffle the sounds of his family long enough for them to all go downstairs for breakfast. He needed sleep more than he needed food.

While he tried to relax himself back to sleep, his thoughts drifted to his girlfriend of the past couple of months. Her name was Tina Newcomb and their relationship had been stormy since the beginning. Oh, Keith had tried to understand her stance on women's lib. He wasn't against women having equal rights, but her views could be all encompassing and she was completely unable to see any point of view but her own. And, so long as Keith didn't rock the boat by expressing his own views, their relationship went along swimmingly.

Unfortunately for Keith, his urge to rock the boat was becoming more and more difficult to ignore. Tina's ideas weren't all 'wrong', they just weren't all 'right' in Keith's opinion. And, when he was around Tina he was rarely allowed to have an opinion. He was getting sick of it; fast.

He'd started talking to this girl in his Trig class. Her name was Carol. She wasn't a women's libber like Tina. She was, however, a year older than him. But still, she seemed to be receptive to accepting a date from Keith, though he hadn't asked yet because he was still seeing Tina. He'd seriously have to think about rectifying that problem.

Keith started thinking that he might just have to break it off with Tina sooner rather than later. She'd found out that he had a couple of open weekends in March and had already 'told' him that she expected him to attend a couple of rallies with her. He'd told her that he wasn't sure because, though they didn't have performances on those weekends, they still had to practice. They'd be recording a new album soon and Keith not only had to write some more songs, but the family had to learn them well enough to record them. Then they had to perfect them enough to perform them in support of the album.

Tina just could not understand how much time and effort being a hit group could take. Well, that wasn't true, she refused to understand it. Keith had patiently explained it to her several times and yet she still expected him to skip rehearsals and take time away from either his writing or homework to support her in her endeavors. He might not have as much trouble with this if she even once listened to his ideas and supported him in one of his passions.

The only time she even wanted to admit that he had interests outside of dating her, was when she wanted to use his fame for her benefit. She'd basically forced his family into performing at her rally when he'd only told her he'd ask the rest of his family. She'd jumped the gun and put their names on the posters before he'd even had a chance to mention it to his mom. Then, once they were there to perform, she'd tried to censor their material and have them sing songs from the 'women's lib song book'. Keith had short circuited about that one. She'd liked his fame well enough to put his family's name on her posters to bring people to her rally and then had had the gall to tell him he had to sing her songs? No way!

Oh, his mom had made him see why she'd done what she'd done. He'd gotten angry with her shortly before the performance. His mom had wanted to meet her to help her decide whether or not Tina's cause was one she could support. Tina had gone so far as to embarrass him in front of his family at dinner by cutting him off when he'd been about to say something in support of her. It was as if she was the only one allowed to have views and opinions. When he took her home that night, he'd made it pretty clear that he was sick of her not wanting him to have a say in anything. Come to think of it, if she was so liberal, why hadn't she taken herself home that night? Wasn't it against all of her rules to have him drive her there? He'd been stewing about it as he drove her home and when he finally pulled up in front of her house, he'd let her have it. He'd made it seem like he was being understanding to her cause, but he turned it on her pretty handily. The 'using of lips' comment had just come out. It wasn't planned. But it had served its purpose. She was at first confused, but then got as mad as he had been. The results had been their argument at the rally. The family had performed anyway, because by that time his mom had decided that appearing was the best for everyone, but Keith hadn't been all that happy about it.

After all the turmoil, he and Tina had made up and Keith felt like things had been going along just fine; so long as he didn't rock the boat.

As he thought back on it, he felt himself getting mad all over again, and the urge the rock the boat came over him once again. This was not conducive to getting back to sleep. He purposefully forced Tina from his mind and tried to think of more pleasant thoughts. He quickly found himself picturing Carol and imagining what a date with Carol would be like. He imagined it to be much more relaxed and that they'd actually be able to have a conversation rather than lectures.

Without his realizing it, Keith's thoughts turned once again to Tina and how he would often start making out with Tina just to shut her up. If her lips were too busy kissing him, she couldn't talk. Besides, Keith liked kissing a whole lot more than talking. He recalled how his date with Tina had ended at her doorstep just last night. Keith had kissed her goodnight and was heading back toward the bus when she once again reminded him that he hadn't answered her about attending the rally in a month on a weekend that Tina knew he wasn't performing. He'd put her off again saying that he would have to find out what other things Reuben might have lined up for them that weekend and hightailed it home. That thought made him mad all over again, so Keith once again purposefully pulled his thoughts away from Tina and pictured himself on a date with Carol. He tried to imagine what it would be like to say good night to her.

He drifted off to sleep with pictures of he and Carol kissing passionately on her front porch. His lips curled up in a grin as his thoughts turned into pleasant dreams.

xoxo

"No, Reuben, you didn't call too early. I've been up for a while." Shirley assured Reuben as he worried from the other end of the line.

"Yes, they're all here this morning. No sleep-overs." Shirley continued to fill the coffee pot while she balanced the phone between her shoulder and her ear and listened to Reuben's next group of questions.

"Well, they're not all up yet, but I do hear quite a bit of noise from upstairs, so I can assume they'll be down soon." Shirley plugged in the coffee pot and grabbed the phone just before it slipped from her ear.

"No, Keith was up late most likely working…..Yes, he's written quite a few new songs for the album already…..I just hope we have enough time to learn them all before our recording date in April….Yes, Reuben, we'll be working very hard in the meantime…..Reuben, enough with the questions. Why'd you call? Really." Shirley finally threw a question back in his direction.

"What do you mean you can't tell me?" Shirley frowned at his vague answer.

"Well, yes, I suppose I'll have to wait for you to tell us in person. How long before you get here?" Shirley watched Laurie push through the swinging door into the brightly lit kitchen and smiled at her.

"Alright, Reuben. We'll be waiting for you…..Not even a hint?......Just a small one?.....Oh, come on Reuben, I'm not one of the kids, I can keep a secret…..Alright, fine. I'll wait……See you in an hour or so." Shirley hung up the phone and turned to Laurie with a puzzled smile on her face. "Good morning, Sweetheart."

"Morning, Mom. What did Reuben want?" Laurie asked as she went to grab the refrigerator door. "What are we making for breakfast?"

"He wouldn't say. Just something vague about 'really big news'. How do pancakes sound?" Shirley asked as she pulled a bowl from the cupboard.

Laurie grabbed the needed items from the refrigerator and from the counter and brought them to the butcher block so that she could help her mom make the batter. "He wouldn't give you any hints?"

"Not a one." Shirley confirmed as she and Laurie worked in unison.

"That's unusual." Laurie said as Danny finally made an appearance.

"What's unusual and when's breakfast?" Danny was always curious as to what others were talking about, but food was also a very high priority for him.

"Breakfast will only be a few minutes. Where are Chris and Tracy?" Shirley answered ignoring his other questions mostly because she had no answers and knew Danny would never settle for that. Unfortunately, ignoring the question the first time didn't work.

"They're right behind me. What's unusual?" Danny reminded her of his question.

"Oh, Reuben called and said he had news but wouldn't tell mom anything about it." Laurie answered for her.

"What's so unusual about that? Mr. Kincaid likes to make his 'news' things bigger than they are. He probably wants to tell us that he's booked an autograph session somewhere. Big deal." Danny poo-poo'd Reuben's news thinking it was going to be a big let down.

"I don't think so. Reuben sounded both distracted and a little excited." Shirley warned.

"Distracted I believe. Excited was probably just nervousness. You know, maybe it's a date for Keith with some big wig's daughter that Mr. Kincaid had to promise in order to get us a booking somewhere. It'd be just like him to dangle Keith out there like a carrot." Danny would never say that in front of Keith for two reasons. He knew Keith would pound him into the ground and he'd never admit to Keith's face that he was the real reason for the family's popularity – especially with the females of the population.

"Danny, Reuben does not 'dangle Keith like a carrot'." Shirley chastised her middle son for his opinion.

"No, I suppose that was a bad choice of words; only rabbits or horses like carrots. I shouldn't have compared our fans to horses. Most of them are much prettier than horses. Well, then again, Laurie really likes carrots." Danny threw the insult at this sister.

"Keep it up little brother and I'll burn your pancakes." Laurie threatened as she wielded the spatula.

"Oops, sorry. You took that the wrong way. I wasn't comparing you to a horse. A cute bunny, maybe." Danny quickly back-peddled.

"I thought you might see it my way." Laurie smiled as she turned away from her contrite brother. She'd known that she could get the results she wanted by threatening his breakfast. He was so easy to manipulate if you just knew him well enough.

"Laurie, could you please go wake Keith up? Reuben said he wouldn't tell us until everyone was present. That means we won't get him to talk until Keith is here." Shirley accepted the spatula from Laurie as she agreed to head back upstairs.

"He stayed up late working, you know." Laurie told her.

"Yes, I know. I heard him playing his guitar when I woke up in the middle of the night. Sometimes I think that boy works too hard." Shirley worried.

"Too hard! Never! He needs to keep writing hit songs if we want to stay on top." Danny reminded everyone.

"He can take a break long enough to sleep." Shirley swatted Danny toward the table with her hand that didn't hold the spatula though giving him a swat with the spatula had been tempting. "Now, go sit down."

As Laurie left the kitchen, Chris and Tracy came in sniffing the air appreciatively. "Oh goody, pancakes." They chorused.

xoxo

"Keith." Laurie leaned over her prone brother and crooned his name in a sing-song voice into his once again uncovered ear. He was in his favorite position; lying flat on his stomach to the side of his pillows facing the wall. It made it difficult for Laurie to reach him across the double bed, but well worth the effort.

Her efforts received a muffled 'hmpf' and a half-hearted wave of Keith's right hand as it lay on the mattress next to his head.

"Come on Keith, time to wake up." Laurie kept her voice soft and lilting. She loved to wake him up this way. Sometimes he'd think she was part of his dream and she'd get a good piece of information to use as bribery for future favors.

"Go away Tina. I'm too tired for another round." Keith hadn't moved. He was still lying on his stomach, on the far side of the bed facing away from Laurie. She never saw the sly grin that crossed his features.

"What do you mean?" Laurie leaned closer so as not to miss his next words. This could be a good one.

"Look, I told you a threesome was out of the question." Keith tried to keep the words muffled but clear enough so he was sure Laurie wouldn't misunderstand him.

"Keith Partridge!" Laurie's voice rose in volume as his words finally registered.

Keith flipped over quickly and didn't try to hide his grin. "Ha! Got ya!"

"Oh……You!" Laurie's shock quickly dissolved into chagrin as she realized he'd been awake the whole time and playing with her.

"That'll teach you." Keith said smugly.

"Teach me what? That my older brother, deep down, is a pervert?" Laurie caught the full force of Keith's pillow on the right side of her head. He'd surprised her with that move. He usually saved that for Danny. "Hey, what was that for?"

"For calling me a pervert." Keith told her as he caught the pillow on its return flight before it could hit him in the head.

"Well, if the shoe fits." Laurie grinned back even though her thrown pillow had missed its target.

"What shoe? I'm in bed." Keith joked back. He knew she wouldn't stay mad at him for long. It was the same with him too. He'd been mad at first when he'd realized what she was trying to do, but the look on her face when she'd realized he was on to her had been priceless.

"Your humor is truly awful. You mustn't be fully awake yet." Laurie said as she sat down on the edge of Keith's bed.

"Who can sleep in this house? It's like a runway at LAX." Keith joked as he leaned back against the headboard. Laurie must have something to say or she wouldn't have sat down.

Laurie shrugged her shoulders in agreement. "Well, in that case, it won't take you long to get downstairs."

"Why do I need to hurry to get downstairs?" Keith asked.

"Reuben's on his way over. He says he has some news for us. Hurry up. I waited as long as I could to wake you up because I heard you up late last night." Laurie said as she hopped up from the bed and started for the door. She knew Keith wouldn't get up until she'd left.

"What's his news about?" Keith asked her departing back.

"No idea, but none of us wants to wait and he won't say anything until we're all present and accounted for. Hurry up, he'll be here soon." Laurie closed the door behind her as she left.

Keith threw the covers back and guessed he'd better start his day now rather than trying to get any more sleep. Besides, it wasn't often that Reuben called early on a Saturday morning saying he had big news. Keith's curiosity was as high as everyone else's. He headed for the bathroom and a quick shower. Maybe the water would wake him up the rest of the way.

xoxo

"Oh, come on Mr. Kincaid. Not even a clue?" Danny pushed.

"Not until Keith is here." Reuben assured him.

"That could be hours yet. Just think, he might have major hair problems and then none of us will hear the news until it's old news." Danny tried again. "I won't give anything away. Just a little hint, hmmm?"

"Danny, leave Reuben alone. Keith will be down shortly and then we can all hear this great news." Shirley smiled patiently at Reuben as she refilled his coffee cup. She herself was moments away from heading upstairs to see what was keeping Keith. Reuben had sounded very excited when he'd called to find out if they were all going to be home for a while because he had some 'pretty exciting news' to share with them.

"Right, leave me alone." Reuben hid a grin behind his coffee cup. He was in too good a mood to let even Danny's ribbing get to him.

"It must be good; you're smiling and it's only your second cup of coffee." Danny continued to egg him on.

"Laurie, where are you going?" Shirley asked as Laurie stood up.

"To see what's keeping Keith." Laurie paused as she stopped to look at her mom.

"Laurie, he'll be down in a minute. What, are you picking up on Danny's excitement?" Shirley smiled at her anxious looking daughter.

"Well, maybe, just a little. Reuben is in an awfully good mood." Laurie pointed out.

"About what?" Keith asked as he finally put in an appearance. He headed immediately to the coffee pot. He knew he was too late for breakfast, but he could use a little help waking up the rest of the way. He'd only gotten about 4 hours of sleep once he had a chance to figure it out while he was standing in the shower.

"Oh, good, you're here." Shirley said as she threw an overly bright smile his direction. "Alright, Reuben, now you can tell us. We're all here."

"I see that. Oh, ummm, Keith, you may want to sit down." Reuben could not wipe the goofy grin off his face.

"I'm alright. What's your news?" Keith said as he began to pour himself a cup of hot coffee.

"You ready?" At nods from everyone, Reuben continued. "I just got confirmation this morning. You've been nominated for a Grammy!"

As the kitchen erupted in screams of excitement, Keith was screaming in pain. Reuben's words had caused him to freeze and unfortunately for him, he'd been in the process of filling his coffee cup. It overflowed unto his hand before he realized he hadn't stopped pouring.

"Oh, Keith! Are you alright?" Shirley had immediately heard the difference in Keith's scream from the screams of her other children. She was by his side in seconds and pulled him quickly to the sink to run his hand under cold water.

"Keith?" Shirley tried again as Keith looked more stunned than excited.

"Sorry, I wasn't completely awake before. The hot coffee did the trick." Keith joked.

"Yeah, but you're supposed to drink it not wear it." Danny reminded him. "Caffeine doesn't have the same effect on your hand as it does once it's in your blood stream."

Keith ignored his brother's comments and pulled his injured hand away from his mom. Reuben's words had finally sunk all the way in. "We're really nominated for a Grammy?"

"Yep!" Reuben grinned.

"For what?" Keith gingerly dried his hand on a towel and walked over to take a seat at the table right next to Reuben, his coffee long forgotten. He no longer needed the caffeine to wake him up. He was officially, completely and totally wide awake.

"Well, the family's been nominated for Best New Artist." Reuben waited for someone to recognize that he'd chosen his words carefully and that he still had more news to share.

"Reuben, you make it sound like there's more." Shirley had heard Reuben's unspoken words.

"Did I?" Reuben tried to look innocent, but wasn't pulling it off very well.

"Alright, that was overkill." Danny pointed out. "Spill it Mr. Kincaid. You can't get any more of our attention."

"Danny, don't tease him or he won't tell us." Laurie tried shushing her brother.

"Your sister is right. Keep that up and I'll just save the rest of my news for another day." Reuben threatened.

"Reuben." Shirley gently chastised Reuben for sinking to Danny's level. He had a tendency to do that.

"Sorry, Shirley. He has that effect on me." Reuben frowned, but couldn't hold onto it as the smile took over his face once again.

"What's the rest of your news?" Laurie urged him this time.

"Well, that's not the only nomination." Reuben hedged.

"Well?" Everyone said in unison.

"Oh, alright, I guess I've milked this one as long as I can. Keith, 'I Think I Love You' has been nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. You've got a shot at winning a Grammy as the writer of the Song of the Year." Reuben clapped Keith on the shoulder as he watched the words sink in.

"You're kidding!" Keith said in awe. He knew that was a huge deal for any song writer to have his song nominated for Song of the Year much less someone as young as he was. He wasn't even seventeen yet. What were the chances that a song from their first album would be the biggest hit of the year as well as nominated for several Grammy's?

"Nope. I'm not kidding." Reuben grinned at Keith's still stunned face.

"He'll be impossible to live with now." Danny shook his head in disgust.

"Danny!" Shirley, Reuben and Laurie all yelled his name at once.

"Hey, wait a minute, the Record of the Year goes to the Artist and Producer. That means the family is actually nominated for two awards." Danny pointed out.

"Yeah, but with Keith having written it, he's still nominated for one more than you brother dear." Laurie quickly reminded him.

Reuben, seeing his spotlight fading, tried to bring everyone's attention back to him. He had just a bit more to tell them.

"And, there is one last bit of news." Reuben waited for someone to prompt him to continue. He didn't have long to wait when a chorus of 'What' greeted his last comment. "The Awards ceremony is going to be televised on national TV for the first time. Isn't that great?

"Oh no! What will I wear?" Shirley worried. "I don't have anything nice enough for the awards, much less national television."

"Oh, Mom, don't worry. We'll go shopping!" Laurie happily suggested. "And we can make an appointment at the beauty salon. We'll need special hair styles for the night, don't you think?"

Keith listened to the planning going on around him while his mind tried to absorb everything he'd just heard. A Grammy! Now, wouldn't that be a groovy thing.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Reuben had stayed on for most of the morning talking about the particulars of their attendance at the awards. There were tuxes to rent, dresses to be bought and hair and make-up decisions to be made. Where would they stay? How would they get around once in the city?

There were also pre and post award parties that needed to be considered. With several nominations, Keith would be a hot commodity. Every party organizer would want him on their list of attendees. The family too, would be a prize for any party that had them on the guest list.

Reuben had suggested that they figure out a way for the family to spend the week prior to the awards in Los Angeles as well as a few days after the ceremony itself. He figured that while they were in Los Angeles, they may as well take the opportunity to spend some time in the studio recording more songs for their second album. He knew that would mean the kids would have to miss more than a week of school, but how often would they have this opportunity? It was a worthy argument.

Shirley hated to think of making her kids miss out on something this important. Could she do that to them? Could she put school above the awards and the ensuing hoopla that went along with it?

It was eventually decided that she would contact the Principals of all their schools on Monday and try to work something out. They would likely have to turn in assignments early and maybe reschedule a test or two, but it was worth a try. They'd all just have to wait two days to find out when they'd be leaving.

Even with that uncertainty, everyone was on cloud nine about the news. This was 'the most exciting thing to have happened to them in their whole singing careers' as Danny had put it.

Reuben chuckled at that thought. Their career was in its infancy if he had anything to say about it. Oh, a Grammy nomination was nothing to sneeze at. In fact, it may turn out to be a high point of their careers, but he hoped they had many years left to at least attempt eclipsing it.

They had an impromptu celebration dinner that included a hastily baked cake that was decorated with a rather simple outline of a Grammy award. Everyone agreed that they'd never had cake that tasted so good.

xoxo

Keith had left his happy family around the dinner table to pick up Tina for their date. They were going to a movie and then, Keith hoped, Muldoon's Point. At least at Muldoon's Point, Tina's lips were too busy to talk.

He had tried several times to tell her his exciting news, but sometime during the same day that Keith was getting his news, Tina had learned that Betty Friedan the author of 'The Feminine Mystique' would be at the rally in March. Betty Friedan's book was the basis of all of Tina's beliefs in women's rights. She was talking non-stop.

At one point, she had asked Keith what he'd been about to say, but before he could even answer she'd gone off on another tangent. She'd even gone so far as to continue whispering her excitement about meeting her idol during the movie instead of the sweet nothings Keith would have preferred. He'd simply smiled absently and watched the movie. When they walked out he couldn't have told you what it was about, but it had been the first time in a long time that he hadn't spent it immersed in his date instead of watching what was happening on the screen.

"Keith, are you feeling alright?" Tina finally noticed that Keith had been unusually quiet most of the night.

"Actually, I'm feeling a little under the weather. Do you mind if we just head home?" Keith jumped at the excuse she'd given him.

"No, I suppose not. Do you think it's the flu? It is going around." Tina finally started to pay some attention to him and Keith couldn't have cared less. He just didn't have the energy to break it off with her tonight.

"Naw, I'm sure it's not the flu. I'll be fine in the morning. Maybe I'm just overly tired. I didn't get much sleep last night." Keith suggested as he led the way onto the bus. He knew she'd think he was being wrongly chivalrous if he made her go first.

"You work too hard. Did you stay up half the night writing a new song?" Tina did know him pretty well. She just didn't often show it as her fight for equal rights took up most of her conscious thoughts.

"Yeah, and then the rest of the family wouldn't let me sleep." Keith left it hanging. He had once again been about to tell her his exciting news but he'd just decided that he didn't want her to be the first person he told. He had thoughts of telling Carol his exciting news and knew that her reaction would be exactly what he'd been looking for. If he told Tina now, she'd likely act excited but he knew that it would take second place to her excitement over meeting her favorite author.

"Oh, you poor baby." Tina leaned forward over the bar behind the driver's seat and put her arms around his neck being careful not to pull him backwards while he drove.

When Keith pulled up in front of Tina's house, he actually felt like sighing in pleasure that his date was almost over. He held it inside and turned off the ignition. He opened the door and jogged down the steps waiting for Tina to follow him. He took her hand to walk her to the front porch.

"Do you want to come inside and watch a little TV? It's really early yet but the house is dark, so my parents are probably in bed." Tina tried to tempt Keith into coming inside. She'd just realized that they hadn't had their usual necking session that she normally enjoyed immensely.

"Not, tonight. Maybe some other time. Good night." Keith said and leaned forward to give her the expected kiss.

As Keith was about to pull back, Tina wound her arms around his neck and pulled him back for another kiss. She felt Keith hesitate at first but then take her up on her offer. He deepened the kiss and Tina sighed in pleasure. This was what she'd missed; the thrilling feel of his tongue inside her mouth.

Long before Tina would have liked it to end, Keith pulled back and placed one more soft, gentle kiss on her lips before backing away from her and saying 'goodnight' one more time before walking back toward the bus.

Tina felt like something had changed, but she wasn't sure what. Keith had been just as attentive as usual if not a little more quiet than normal. He'd barely spoken all night but then she realized that she'd been pretty excited about her news. She vaguely remembered Keith trying to tell her something early on, but he hadn't tried to tell her again so it couldn't be that important, right?

xoxo

The next morning, very early, Keith had a basketball game at the local park with his buddies. He decided against telling them about his news too. He wasn't sure why other than that he'd gotten there a little late and they'd just started playing the game almost immediately and conversation was limited to shouts of 'I'm open' and 'pick'. Once the game was over, they all had to get home to get ready for church. The opportunity just hadn't come up.

Later that day, after everyone had had a chance to sit down and read the Sunday paper, it was common knowledge around San Pueblo that their local, newly famous family had just become a little more famous. The phone had been ringing off the hook with congratulatory friends all day. Keith had gone into the garage and asked his mom to just take messages for him. He wanted to work on some new songs without interruption.

She'd easily agreed. She knew he hated to be interrupted when he was creating, so she didn't question it.

Keith was just glad to avoid any calls from Tina. He was trying to work out how he could break it off with her. Last night's date had been the final nail in the coffin as far as he was concerned. She'd been completely oblivious to his needs and once again only thought about what she wanted. She'd always been a little self-centered, but last night had been the last straw.

He remembered back to the beginning of their relationship. She'd been a women's libber back then too, but at least she'd cared what he'd thought about things other than her views on women's rights. They used to be able to carry on conversations that would sometimes evolve into arguments that would then move on to the make-up make-out session. And, oh, how he'd enjoyed those.

Now, when he thought about kissing Tina, it was only to shut her up. That thought actually made Keith laugh out loud and he put his thoughts of Tina aside to work on his music.

His decision was made. At the next opportunity, he'd break it off with Tina. Then, when he felt the time was right, he intended on asking Carol out on a date. But, maybe not before he went to L.A. for the awards. Man things were going to be busy until then.

xoxo

Keith and Laurie were walking to school on Monday morning when Keith finally realized how widely known their news was. They couldn't walk half a block without someone yelling 'congratulations' out of a car window, shouting 'way to go' from their front yard or giving them the thumbs up sign from across the street.

"Wow, guess the news it out." Keith joked to his laughing sister.

"I'll say. You hid out in the garage all day yesterday. The phone never stopped ringing. There was a big write up in the Sunday paper. Didn't you read it?" Laurie waved to the next passing car that had yelled their congratulations.

"No, I ran out of time. I had a breakthrough on a new song and it just sort of forced its way out. I didn't finish it until around midnight." Keith admitted.

"Well, dear brother, the story said some very flattering things about the family. And, you too, of course." Laurie bumped her shoulder playfully into his as they walked. They were still several blocks away from school. Their walk had seemed to take longer, what with all the pausing to say 'thank you'.

"Yeah? Like what?" Keith asked absently as he took his turn waving at a passing car that had honked its horn.

"Well, I don't want to inflate your ego any more than it already is….." Laurie grinned and let her voice trail off.

"Ha, ha. Then tell me what it said about the family." Keith took a whole lot of ribbing about having had his ego inflated since the family became a hit. It was true that he had become more famous than the rest of them – especially with the girls. His fan mail was more than four times as much as the rest of the family combined. He tried not to get a 'big head' about it, but sometimes it was hard not to be totally flattered. His family's response to all of it helped to keep him grounded. Without them, he was sure that things would have been drastically different. He was mostly glad that they continued to live a normal life in little San Pueblo rather than moving closer to the bright lights of one of the bigger cities.

"Well, it mostly said that we'd been nominated as 'Best New Artists' of the year and that it was a well deserved accolade. It talked a little about each of us starting with Mom and then talking about me, Danny, Chris and Tracy." Laurie thought back on the story she'd read yesterday afternoon.

"Sounds nice." Keith mentioned.

"It was. But that was only the first couple of paragraphs. After that, the rest of the story focused on you." Laurie admitted without jealousy.

"How long was this story?" Keith asked in trepidation. He hated it when he got singled out from the group. Although, he guessed for this story it was only natural as he'd been nominated for the additional award on his own. What he hated were the stories on the family that almost always seemed to turn into stories about Keith. It bothered him almost more than it bothered everyone else in the family. Well, except for Danny maybe.

"Oh, it was very long. I think they covered your life story from birth on." Laurie joked.

"You're kidding?" Keith said in disgust.

"Well, just a little." Laurie conceded and at Keith's raised eyebrow continued with more sincerity this time. "Alright, the rest of the story focused on your award for Songwriter of the year and talked about your competition. They were very flattering about your chances of winning. Not that they're biased or anything."

"Oh, that's alright then." Keith said. "So long as they didn't blow this whole thing out of proportion."

"Oh? And just how would they do that?" Laurie asked in surprise.

"You know, make it seem like this is the biggest thing since sliced bread. I mean, it's only a couple of nominations. I haven't won any of them and probably won't." Keith wanted to keep his head in the proper perspective.

"Well, according to the paper, you should win hands down. They really had some nice things to say about your talent and skills. You should probably take the time to read it. I know mom is planning on keeping a copy for a scrapbook." Laurie said as they finally approached the steps of the school.

"Yeah, guess I should do that, hmmm?" Keith agreed as he paused before starting up the steps.

"What's wrong?" Laurie asked as she looked behind her surprised that Keith was no longer right beside her.

"Nothing…..really." Keith hedged.

"Alright, spit it out." Laurie retraced her steps so that Keith wouldn't have to say whatever he was going to say too loud.

"I just don't want anything to change. I like things the way they are." Keith shrugged at the odd thought that had crossed his mind.

"How's this? I promise not to treat you any differently. I'll still think of you as my dorky brother." Laurie grabbed his arm and pulled him forward.

"Thanks, I always knew I could count on you." Keith laughed at his own silliness. Laurie always knew what to say to get him out of a funky mood.

xoxo

As the day wore on, Keith was glad to see that people were treating him exactly as they always had. The only differences were some of the girls who'd never paid him much attention were now giving him long assessing looks. Guess they were trying to decide if this latest addition to his fame would change him. They were the ones who'd decided that when he became famous he'd become stuck up or arrogant. They were the ones who hadn't known him before he'd become famous and who likely now would only appear to want to know him _because_ he was famous. They used their lack of 'in' status as the basis for their dislike of him and often times Laurie too. The brother and sister duo often got painted with the same brush. Thankfully both of them had large groups of friends that had stuck with them throughout. So, for the most part, their normal, non-performing life had remained unchanged.

Their group of friends was a loyal bunch through and through. They swore that neither Keith nor Laurie had changed a bit since they'd started making music as a family. They were still their goofy, silly and completely unaffected by fame friends. Those on the outside looked in with jealousy and shared fabricated stories of how much the brother and sister had changed since their first album had come out. This latest accolade would only add fuel to their fire. It's what fueled the rumor mill which was always spinning with a new story. Now, there was even more grist for the mill. The darn wheel would start spinning fast enough to fly off its axle.

Laurie and Keith's friends did their best to slow it down as best they could. They knew they'd never stop it, but they defended their friends to anyone who would listen. The worst offenders were girls who Keith had never asked out and boys who'd either been turned down by Laurie or never gotten the courage up to ask her out. They were the ones who told people that Keith and Laurie were too stuck up to talk to the 'little people' at San Pueblo High School.

It was this rumor mill that pushed up Keith's time table on breaking up with Tina. She'd foolishly listened to a fabricated story told in her P.E. class that had Keith taking a famous starlet to the Grammy Awards. She'd had to bite her lip to hold back the tears and had quickly walked away to the bathroom to cry her heart out in private. Two periods later, she had lunch and knew that she'd see Keith at that time. She laid in wait, thoughts of eating far from her mind.

"How could you?" Tina threw the accusation at Keith while he walked with a group of friends across the lawn. They'd been about to find a sunny spot to sit and each lunch. Keith hadn't seen her coming and was shocked enough by her attack to simply stop and look at her. His reaction, or more likely his lack of reaction, caused Tina to continue. "Well?"

"How could I, what?" Keith asked in surprise and glanced around to see how much attention her words had drawn. She hadn't exactly been very discrete. Unfortunately, he noticed that all eyes were now on the scene about to unfold. Too bad he had no idea what it was about.

"You weren't even going to break up with me first?" Tina continued not realizing that Keith wasn't following her train of thought.

Keith tried to keep the shock from his face. How had she known that he was going to break up with her? He'd only decided for sure the day before and he'd told no one. She couldn't know, could she?

"I can see by your silence that you have no excuse other than you're a complete jerk." Tina railed.

"Tina, I'm not answering you because I have no idea what you're talking about." Keith had tried to grab her hand to pull her away from the growing crowd of people who had become fascinated with their one sided argument.

"Don't touch me!" Tina yelled jerking her hand away.

Keith noticed a teacher watching them closely. So far he was keeping his distance, but Tina's last words had definitely caught his attention. Crap! Things could not be worse and he still had no idea what she was talking about.

"Tina, fine, I won't touch you, but would you please explain to me why you are so mad at me?" Keith kept his voice very low. He had no desire to have more than the thirty or so people who were currently watching them with fascination hear their argument.

"I figured you'd play all innocent. I always knew that you were just humoring me and my views. That you never truly supported me. You only played at the rally because your mom forced you to. Now I know for sure how you really feel about me. About us." Tina could feel the tears starting to fall, but she brushed them away and tried to ignore them.

"Tina." Keith started and then stopped not knowing what to say. He'd already asked her to explain herself twice and she'd ignored him. He was not only losing patience, but he was quickly losing interest.

"Keith, what's going on?" Laurie had noticed that Keith and Tina were the center of attention and had quickly gone over to see if she could help stop the quickly deteriorating situation.

"I have no idea." Keith admitted in defeat.

"Your brother and his two-timing ways, that's what's going on." Tina said loudly. She figured that she could garner support for her position from anyone near who wasn't already a friend of the two people in front of her.

"What's she talking about?' Laurie asked Keith quietly.

"I have no idea. I've asked her twice to tell me, but all I get is accusations." Keith said just as quietly right back to her.

"Aren't you two just thick as thieves? Who's taking you to the ceremony?" Tina shot at Laurie. "Probably some married celebrity with a pregnant wife at home, no doubt."

"What?" Laurie pulled back in surprise at the attack. She'd always kind of liked Tina and she'd secretly supported most of her views if not the means of making them known.

"It's all over school that Keith is taking Judy Strangis to the Grammy's next month and he didn't have the guts to tell me about it on our date Saturday night. I realized that you'd been trying to tell me something all night but you must have chickened out. Now I know why." Tina threw a slap at Keith that he caught just before she made contact.

"That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard." Keith made the mistake of saying what he was thinking rather than what was wise to say.

"Did you just call me dumb?" Tina said as she tried to wrestle her hand away from Keith.

"He was calling what you said dumb, but I'm starting to think that your version might just suit the situation better." Laurie said rather snidely. She hadn't been about to say what she was thinking either, but when she'd seen Tina try to slap her brother for something he was not guilty of – well, she felt compelled to come to his defense.

I mean, seriously, she had wanted to slap him several times in her life, but he was her brother. Tina had no right to think about trying to hurt her brother. It just wasn't right.

"Laurie, you're not helping." Keith mentioned quietly as he finally let go of Tina's wrist. She'd been fighting so hard to get him to release her that she stumbled back a few steps before she regained her balance.

"Did you hear what she said to me?" Tina stomped her foot on the ground like a child who was throwing a temper tantrum.

"Yes, and she didn't mean it. Right, Laurie?" Keith tried to defuse the situation.

Laurie refused to verbalize her answer, but nodded ever so slightly so that Keith wouldn't have to defend her from a slap too. Not that he'd likely have had to. Laurie was mad enough to lay Tina flat if she made one move toward her. Really, the gall of the girl to accuse Keith of something, try to hit him and then get upset when Laurie told her the truth.

"Ok, can we talk about this calmly now?" Keith hoped that the emotion had finally been taken out of the situation.

"I'm not sure there's anything TO talk about?" Tina tried vainly to hold onto her anger. "I guess maybe we aren't right for each other after all."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Keith agreed but was unprepared for the fall out.

"So, you really do want to break up with me?" Tina's voice was rising again as her anger came back full force. She'd been so sure that he would try to talk her out of breaking up but instead he just blithely agrees with her. How did that happen?

"Well, I certainly would have chosen a less public place to do it, but yeah, I guess that's what I'm saying." Keith still kept his voice low, but he knew their conversation would be all over school in less than 10 minutes.

"Oh…." Tina could think of nothing else to say, so she spun around and stormed off. A couple of her closest friends followed quickly behind her.

"Wow, that was a train wreck." Laurie felt a small giggle slip out and bit her lip trying to silence it. She knew Keith was really uncomfortable with the situation, but Tina's look had been priceless.

"You found this funny?" Keith asked in surprise as he pulled her away from the crowd that had gathered. Within short order, they were away from everyone else and Keith spun back to look at his completely unrepentant sister.

"No, not the argument. But, you gotta admit, the look on her face when you told her that you would have broken up with her anyway was priceless." Laurie grinned in her brother's still frowning face. "Oh, admit it. She deserved it for making such a public display in the first place."

"I'd like to admit it, but you know that no matter how much she deserved it, I'm still gonna look like the bad guy in this whole thing." Keith hated that side of fame. No matter what happened, if it happened in public, someone would put a bad spin on it.

"I know. And, I'm sorry about that part of it. Really. It's just that she deserved it." Laurie was starting to see Keith's side of this too. "Hey, look, a lot of the people around were friends of ours. At least there'll be two sides to this story."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. Let's just hope it dies a quick and merciful death." Keith turned back to face where the argument had taken place. No one seemed to be watching them anymore and no one appeared to be having any excited conversations. Maybe, if he was really lucky, this whole thing would be over quickly.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Keith had been up late talking to Reuben and then planning what they'd be prepared to record once they got to L.A. in a few weeks. He had several songs ready to go and the family wouldn't need too much time to rehearse in order to be ready for laying down the tracks. The longest part would be the vocal tracks – most of the time in the studio was his time. The lead vocals always took longer. He could plan on some fairly long days if they accomplished everything Reuben had insisted they should get done.

Reuben wanted to 'strike while the iron was hot', or so he said. That meant having an album all but ready to go as soon after the results of the awards show as possible. This meant pushing up their planned recording dates from April to March. He at least wanted them to be able to talk about the upcoming album when they were interviewed during the time they were in L.A.

Keith was starting to doubt whether or not they could get it all done in time. Even after he'd put his list aside and crawled into bed after midnight, he hadn't been able to shut off his mind and had ended up laying awake for a couple more hours.

The results of his almost sleepless night were a very groggy teenager stumbling down the stairs to start his day.

"Hey, sleepyhead. Get a move on, we have to leave in a few minutes." Laurie said as she passed him on the stairs.

"If we have to leave so soon, where are you going?" Keith asked while he blinked his eyes slowly hoping that they stayed open after each blink.

"Danny decided that my blouse was a better receptacle for his juice than his own mouth. Chris said something funny and Danny spit a geyser of juice all over me. Now I have to go and change." Laurie said in disgust as she held the damp material away from her skin.

Keith just threw her a lopsided grin and continued down the stairs.

"Good morning Keith. Sit down and eat your breakfast." Shirley said as soon as she saw him stroll through the door.

"Caffeine first." Keith half sat on the butcher block and watched his mother's competent hands reach for a coffee cup. He glanced up at the clock and his eyes opened a little wider. "Why'd you let me sleep so late? Look at the time."

"If you had gotten up any of the first three times I tried to get you moving, you wouldn't be this late. Really, Keith, you need to get to bed earlier. What time did you finally fall asleep?" Shirley asked as she handed him his coffee.

"I'm not sure. It was pretty late, though." Keith admitted while he took his first appreciative sip. He closed his eyes and waited for the caffeine to kick in.

"I can tell that by your still half asleep look. If you keep this up, you're going to make yourself sick." Shirley worried.

"No way. I'm too young to get sick just because I missed a little sleep." Keith opened his eyes to wink at her.

"Let's not tempt fate. I'd feel much better if you just got to bed a little earlier than midnight every night." Shirley reached for the coffee pot to refill the cup that Keith was already holding out to her.

"I promise I'll hit the hay early tonight, good enough?" Keith offered.

"We'll, see. Now, sit down and eat some breakfast." Shirley waved him toward the table.

"Ready to go, Keith?" Laurie asked as she bounded back into the kitchen with a totally different outfit on. Her new choice in blouses had not gone along with the skirt she'd had on. It had taken her longer than she'd have liked to change.

"He hasn't eaten yet." Shirley pointed out.

"That's alright. I'll just grab an apple and eat on the way." Keith glanced over at the kitchen table to see his three youngest siblings all finishing their bowls of cereal. It didn't look all that appetizing to him anyway.

Danny had his nose buried in the local newspaper when he all of a sudden pulled it down and looked at Keith. "So, you and Tina broke up?"

"What? How do you know that?" Keith asked in surprise. He hadn't had time to tell anyone. Reuben had been lying in wait for him as soon as he'd gotten home from school. He doubted that Laurie would have talked about it.

"It says, and I quote, 'Public Falling Out' followed by 'What local heartthrob had a very loud and public breakup with his girlfriend?' Would you like me to continue reading?" Danny asked archly. He loved it when Keith's life was laid bare to the public. He knew the brighter the limelight on his brother, the more likely he was to get caught up in the glow.

"No, Yes" was heard in unison with Keith saying 'no' and Laurie, Chris, Tracy and his mother saying 'yes'; Shirley because she was concerned, Laurie because she wanted to find out how accurate the story was and Chris and Tracy because they were always curious about the goings on in their older siblings lives.

"I'll take that as a yes seeing it's four to one. The story goes on to say, 'Local celebrity, Keith Partridge and his most recent girlfriend were heard to have a very public falling out over young Mr. Partridge's infidelity with a Hollywood starlet. It was heard that Mr. Partridge was planning to take the young guest star of such hit shows as Room 222, Judy Strangis, as his date to the upcoming Grammy Awards. Mr. Partridge was allegedly planning to do this without knowledge of said girlfriend.' The rest of the story talks about the recent nominations, so that's most of the dirt." Danny smirked at Keith. He much preferred reading the part of the story that had the juicy smut rather than the last part that included the accolades.

"Wow, wonder how they heard about that?" Laurie whispered in Keith's ear as she put her hand on his shoulder in commiseration. It was a fairly true story, if a bit incomplete. "And won't Tina be peeved that they didn't even use her name."

"How'd they come up with that story?" Shirley asked as she watched Keith and Laurie with their heads together.

Keith just sighed and let his head fall forward. He'd just lost all of the energy that the caffeine had so recently afforded him. Why, oh why, did they have to blow everything so out of proportion? And, if they were going to publish a story, why didn't they at least check ALL of the facts.

Laurie, noticing that Keith wasn't about to answer, decided to try and help out. "Well, part of the story is true. Tina confronted Keith with the totally fabricated story about the date in L.A. She also chose a very public place to do it. Poor Keith."

"Laurie, you make it sound true." Shirley pressed.

"Well, in some ways it is. Tina accused Keith of it without telling him what it was. By the time he'd figured it out, she had them broken up. Keith just accepted her terms." Laurie said in a matter of fact manner.

"Oh, honey, I'm sorry." Shirley put her hand on Keith's arm in sympathy of his latest break-up.

"For what?" Keith glanced up at her in surprise.

"Aren't you sad about the break-up?" Shirley was surprised by the question.

"Not really. Tina just sped up the time table." Keith admitted.

"And, made it more public than it should have been." Laurie helpfully pointed out.

"Yeah, there's that too." Keith sighed. Why, oh why, were all the wrong things in the paper?

"Well, Keith, you know better than to have any personal conversations in public." Danny, feeling left out of the conversation, decided to make himself known again.

"It's not like I had a choice." Keith reminded him.

"You could have gagged her." Danny suggested helpfully, grinning wickedly.

"Hmmmm, not a bad idea." Keith found himself grinning back. Danny had a wicked sense of humor that Keith always enjoyed.

"Boys." Shirley said in warning. She actually found the humor in Danny's suggestion too, but Chris and Tracy were too young to understand the subtlety. However, she'd seen how finding out about the story had hurt Keith. She hated the fact that his life was almost completely fodder for the local newspaper. She just hoped the tabloids didn't pick up the story. At least the local paper's stories usually had a modicum of truth to them. The tabloids on the other hand, well let's just say that truth was not their strong suit. The more sensational the better – truth be damned.

"Oh, look at the time! Keith, we are going to be late." Laurie finally glanced back at the clock.

"Oh, man we are." Keith hopped up from the butcher block.

"Take the station wagon. I don't have any errands that I can't use the bus instead." Shirley suggested as she grabbed the keys from the peg on the wall.

"Thanks Mom." Keith kissed her on the cheek as he grabbed the keys from her hand and pulled Laurie out the door behind him.

"Bye Mom." Laurie threw over her shoulder as she hurried so that Keith wouldn't pull her off her feet.

"Bye kids." Shirley watched their departing backs and shooed her younger kids out the door. They had a shorter walk but would be pressed to get there on time too. Once the house was quiet, she picked up the discarded paper and reread the story.

A few minutes later, she laid it down with a thoughtful look on her face. It wasn't often that their new found fame gave her pause. She did worry that Keith was starting to live his life under a microscope. So far, he'd avoided any major problems, but the press could be quite intrusive and dealing with stories that held only partial truths was starting to become a problem.

She'd have to talk to Reuben about this and find out if there was any way they could avoid these types of stories. Or, if like she suspected, they would just have to learn to live with them and ignore them.

She was thankful every day that they lived in small San Pueblo and that her kids still had the same group of friends that they'd had before this had all started. She thought they still seemed very grounded and level-headed. None of them had let fame go to their heads. Well, all except Danny on occasion. But she could always count on the other four kids to bring him back to reality rather quickly.

She threw a dirty look at the paper and murmured, "You won't win. I won't let you."

xoxo

"Keith!" Keith had spent a rather uncomfortable day in school. People had been talking in whispers and throwing glances his way. He knew they were all speculating about the story in the paper. Well, they were speculating if they were one of the people who hadn't actually witnessed it. Either way, the sly comments and looks were starting to get to him, much as he tried to ignore them. Keith was currently leaning against the car waiting for Laurie. They'd been just about to leave when she noticed that she'd left a book she would need in her locker. She'd just walked away when Keith heard his name yelled by a female voice behind him.

He turned around and noticed Carol walking toward him with a big smile on her face. He grinned back and said, "Hi, Carol."

"I saw the story in the paper." She said as she stopped just a few feet away from him. At her words, Keith stiffened. "I just wanted to say congratulations. You must be so excited about being nominated!"

Keith frowned for just a second when she'd first started talking but then he realized that she was talking about the story from Sunday, not the story from this morning. "Hey, thanks. I appreciate it and yes, it's pretty cool – being nominated, that is."

"Pretty cool? That's an understatement. I'd be over the moon if it was me." Carol had noticed his moment of hesitation. She was very aware of the latest story in the paper; the one about Keith breaking up with Tina. She hadn't mentioned it because it would have been in bad taste to tell him she was very happy that he was once again a free man. She could make her play for him now with a clear conscience.

"Alright, so that might have been a little bit of an understatement. I'm just trying to make sure the hype doesn't get out of hand. It's not like I'll win, so I'm just trying to make sure I don't get my hopes up too high." Keith shared just a little of his nervousness about being nominated. It's not like he didn't want to win. He did. Badly. He just didn't want to be too disappointed when he didn't.

"Makes sense. But, I don't think you have anything to worry about. You are going to win. I just know it." Carol knew she was biased, but if hoping could bring him the win, she'd do her part.

"Well, thanks for the vote of confidence. Guess I'll just have to wait a few more weeks to find out if your confidence in me is warranted." Keith almost blurted out an invitation to go out on a date as he'd been thinking about it for so long, but caught himself just before it slipped out. He also remembered his plan to not date anyone before the ceremony. He was just too busy between now and then.

Carol waited for what she could just feel was coming next, but was disappointed when Keith didn't ask her out. She thought a little gentle prodding might help.

"So, are you planning on going to the big party on Saturday night?" Carol reminded him of the latest function that most everyone in the school was aware of and invited to.

"Can't. We'll be singing at Redwood Lodge that night." Keith noticed Laurie walking toward them and stopping as soon as she noticed that Keith was talking to Carol. She grinned at him and winked so that he would realize she'd stay away until he was ready for her to come back.

"Oh, that's too bad. Guess I won't see you there then." Carol shifted her weight nervously. Had she been too obvious?

"So, who are you going with?" Keith asked just to keep her talking.

"Oh, no one special. Just a couple of friends." She'd almost said she wasn't dating anyone right now, but she thought that might be too much of a hint. She didn't want to hit him over the head with the fact she was ready, willing and able to accept his invitation to an activity of his choice.

Keith impulsively decided that he'd go back on his plan not to start dating before he got back from L.A. "So, you're not seeing anyone right now?"

"No, I'm not." Carol said and then held her breath hoping what she thought was coming really was. Could he? Would he?

"Well, I can't do anything this weekend, but we'll be in town next weekend. How'd you like to go and see a movie or something?" Keith asked.

YES!!!!!! Carol tried with all her might to keep her smile down to something less than a thousand watts and her voice from screaming when she calmly answered, "I'd like that."

"We'll have to see what's showing next weekend. Let's say we firm up the date early next week?" Keith suggested.

"Sounds good. Break a leg this weekend." Carol joked.

"Thanks." Keith smiled as she walked away and looked back to wave.

"Well, that didn't take you long." Laurie kidded as she walked up to stand beside Keith.

"What didn't?" Keith frowned at her comment.

"If I had to guess, you've already got a date with a new girlfriend." Laurie said archly as she walked around the car to get in.

"Yeah? So what?" Keith wasn't sure what she was trying to get at.

"Nothing." Laurie just grinned and then disappeared behind the hood of the car.

Keith got in behind her and asked. "No, really, what was that supposed to mean?"

xoxo

Reuben, Keith and Danny had gone out into the garage to talk some more about the upcoming recording date. Shirley and Laurie would join them as soon as they were done cleaning up the dinner dishes. Shirley made a mental note to herself that as soon as she could afford it, she was buying a dishwasher – no more hand washing the dishes for her. She just didn't have that much time anymore.

Shirley and Laurie had been talking about the main topic that was front and center for them right now – what to wear to the Grammy awards.

"I think we should wait and shop at some chic shop in L.A. What do you think, mom?" Laurie suggested.

"I'd hate to wait until the last minute like that. What if we don't find anything?" Shirley liked to be organized and prepared. Waiting until just days before the ceremony seemed to be leaving just a little too much to chance.

"Mom, we're not going to find anything at Bartlett's or Murphy's." Laurie reminded her.

"I guess you're right and we don't have time to run into San Francisco before either." Shirley finally agreed.

"See? I knew you'd see the light. Think Reuben can find the funds to spring for something from Rodeo Drive?" Laurie asked hopefully.

"We'll see." Shirley smiled conspiratorially at her daughter. She would love to splurge this one time too. She'd have to check the family funds in case Reuben wasn't willing to put it in as a business expense.

They worked in companionable silence and listened to the intermittent sounds of music that came from the garage every now and then. The sound of Keith's guitar brought Shirley's mind back to this morning's news story about him. She really was worried about how the constant speculation on his love life was affecting him. Laurie might know.

"Laurie, you spend a lot of time with Keith." Shirley started out by stating the obvious.

"Yeah, I guess so." Laurie frowned at her mother wondering where she was going with such a leading comment.

"Well, I was a little concerned after this morning." Shirley continued to dance around the subject.

"What about it?" Laurie thought she knew where her mom was going, but waited for her to actually ask a question.

"Well, that news story. You said it was only partially true." Shirley started out slowly.

"Yes, it only told what the argument was about, not that there was absolutely no truth to Tina's accusations." Laurie agreed.

"How do you think that made Keith feel?" Shirley asked.

"Well, I can't speak for Keith, but I'm sure it made him a little depressed." Laurie didn't want to speculate too much.

"I guess what I'm trying to figure out is whether or not the public speculation on Keith's life is becoming too much. Is it getting to the point that it's affecting the way Keith lives his life?" Shirley worried out loud.

"Maybe a little. Sure. But, I don't think he'd change anything about his life right now." Laurie answered truthfully.

"You don't think he'd prefer that his life not be discussed in the local newspaper?" Shirley asked surprised.

"Well, I'm sure he'd prefer it not appear, but it's not like it's cramped his style or anything." Laurie laughed a little.

"He didn't have to put up with a bunch of speculation and people talking about him at school today?" Shirley asked to have her biggest fear about this current story confirmed.

"Oh, sure, there was lots of talk at school today and at first I think Keith was a little bummed by it. But, Mom, really, don't worry about Keith. He's resilient to say the least." Laurie grinned in memory.

"How so?" Shirley let the water out of the sink after rinsing the last dish.

"Mom, he already has a date for next weekend." At Shirley's surprised look, Laurie laughed again. "Did you really think that America's Heartthrob would go very long without female companionship?"

"No, I guess not." Shirley's surprise melted into a chagrined smile. "Sometimes I wonder why I even bother worrying."

"You shouldn't. At least, not when it comes to Keith and girls. There will always be a bevy of girls waiting to go out with him." Laurie ruefully admitted.

"Just like the bevy of boys waiting in line for you?" Shirley reminded her daughter.

"I have no idea what you're talking about?" Laurie's grin turned sly as they both knew she was lying.

xoxo

"Look, part of the album is already recorded. Why can't we finish it while we're in L.A.?" Reuben argued. "You just told me you have enough songs written to fill it and probably a few extras."

"Reuben, it's not a matter of whether or not we have enough material. It's a matter of enough time." Keith felt like he had repeated himself several times already.

"Yeah, Mr. Kincaid, we do have to sleep." Danny loved ganging up on Reuben.

Reuben and Keith both ignored Danny and Keith reminded Reuben of all the other commitments he had already scheduled them for. "You just got done telling us that you have radio interviews, a potential tv appearance, parties and rehearsals for a performance on the show. Just when do you expect us to have enough time to record all these songs?"

"In between that other stuff." Reuben said lamely. He knew it was virtually impossible he just didn't want to hear it from his star.

"Look, Reuben, I can put up with a pretty hectic schedule for two weeks. No problem. But you can't expect Chris and Tracy to be up for all the things you have on this schedule." Keith would never say no to anything Reuben asked him to do. He knew Reuben had his best interests at heart. After all, under Reuben's management, he'd received a total of three Grammy nominations. Not that Reuben had written any of the music to get him there, but without him helping them get into the business, he'd still be a wanna-be in little San Pueblo.

"Well, they don't have to be at the interviews or the parties. Those would only be for you and your Mom. Maybe Laurie, but not the little kids." Reuben offered.

"Hey, who you calling a little kid?" Danny refused to be ignored any more. No one called him a little kid and got away with it. He was more adult than a whole bunch of adults he already knew.

"Sorry, kid. Present company excluded." Reuben threw the comment out just to stop Danny from arguing with him. "So, you'll help me convince your mom that we can do all of this, right?"

"Sure, fine, whatever. So long as you don't run any of the rest of the family or mom into the ground." Keith agreed. "I'll keep whatever schedule you want me to."

"Great, now we just have to convince her." Reuben said just as the garage door opened to admit the four remaining members of the family.

"Convince who of what?" Shirley asked.

"Mr. Kincaid wants to convince you to let him work Keith to death." Danny piped up in a pseudo-innocent voice.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"I think you just might want to explain yourself." Shirley looked at Reuben with a frown. She already thought Keith worked too hard. What was Danny saying about Reuben wanting him to work even harder? It wasn't possible.

"Look, Danny's exaggerating, Mom." Keith immediately leapt to Reuben's defense.

"Oh?" Shirley just raised an eyebrow and turned to Reuben. She knew that Keith could hold out against her look that said 'talk now or suffer the consequences'. Reuben, on the other hand, being the nervous individual that he was, would likely crack like an egg.

She wasn't disappointed.

"Well, this is just too great of an opportunity to pass up. We need to strike while the iron is hot. Ride this elevator all the way to the top. Keep the bus rolling, so to speak." Reuben spoke in every figure of speech he could come up with on short notice which wasn't many. "We only have 10 or so days to take advantage of this situation. This is a make or break time."

"Enough with the clichés, Reuben. I understand what you're saying, but what's this about working Keith to death?" When Reuben opened his mouth to answer quickly, Shirley interrupted. "Specifically, not another set of meaningless sentences."

While Reuben closed his mouth to ponder how to answer Shirley's specific directive, Danny stepped into the void. "He has this unbelievable list of things he wants to get done while we're in L.A. I'm not sure that Superman could keep that schedule."

"It's not that bad Danny." Keith defended Reuben again. "Look, Mom, it's just some additional recording dates, some interviews, stuff like that."

Shirley crossed her arms and waited for Reuben to answer her. She knew that Danny was exaggerating and that Keith was glossing it over.

"Well, it is an aggressive schedule but not undoable." Reuben started and then decided to go for broke. "Keith will lose a little sleep, but nothing too bad. You and Laurie will have a pretty busy schedule too, so we may want to consider inviting your parents along to be able to watch Chris and Tracy while you're at certain events."

"Hey, what about me?" Danny reminded him. "I get to go to these events too, right?"

Reuben wanted to tell him that if he didn't stop sabotaging him at every turn, they were likely to 'accidentally' leave him in San Pueblo when they left. Instead he just ignored him again.

"Look, Shirley, just take a look at the list of events and we can talk about what can be skipped or rescheduled. We'll only do what you agree to do, alright?" Reuben hoped that Keith would be able to help him influence her when she nixed something that Keith really wanted to do.

"Let me see the list." Shirley held her hand out and waited to be handed this all important list.

Reuben handed it over and fidgeted while she scanned it. He watched her face begin to settle into a frown. That wasn't good.

"So? What do you think?" Reuben said after Shirley had turned the list over to look at side two. He knew she had to be done. There were only a couple of items on that side.

"Reuben, this list has enough activities to fill up a month, much less 10 days." Shirley kept her voice level. She knew she'd never accomplish anything by losing her temper.

"We could stay in L.A. for another couple of days. I mean, the awards are on Tuesday night. There's no need to rush home. We could stay until the weekend, right? That would help." Keith offered what he thought was a viable solution.

"That would mean missing 2 more days of school. I was planning on driving back on Wednesday." Shirley pointed out.

"That's not a problem." Danny piped in, liking the thought of missing more school.

Shirley threw him a look that said if he didn't have anything important to add to the conversation he might want to consider being quiet. Danny swallowed hard and sidled behind Keith. His actions effectively brought Shirley's eyes to her eldest who was watching her with hope in his eyes.

"Mom, Reuben is right. We need to take advantage of this opportunity. It's not likely to come again. We should get as much out of it as we can. Besides, we'll be too tired to drive back on Wednesday. We'd have to stay until Thursday for sure. What's one more day?" Keith saw her pause and pushed his agenda. "It would mean more money for our college funds, right?"

"That's right." Reuben added quickly seeing where Keith was going with this. "And, you'd be able to get that dish washer you've been thinking about. Less time in the kitchen means more time to spend with your family."

"Alright, alright, enough. I'll look this over more closely after we're done rehearsing. But, when I do, Reuben, I'll want specifics. Are you prepared to discuss it?" Shirley threw another assessing look at their manager. He'd never steered them wrong yet. She knew that once they got down to it, he wouldn't really work Keith to death. He needed him. They all did.

"Sure thing, Shirley. Keith and I will go over it with you in detail. Right?" Reuben threw a quick smile in Keith's direction. Maybe, just maybe, they had a shot at accomplishing everything they had hoped to in L.A.

xoxo

It was another late night of discussion, but it was eventually decided that Shirley would allow them to schedule everything on their list. The heavy schedule also meant that instead of 10 days in L.A., they would stretch their trip to 2 full weeks. Even with the longer time frame, Reuben would still have to negotiate shorter interview times with some of the magazines and they would leave it open to possibly finishing the album from home in the weeks following their trip. Without those changes, none of them would have been able to sleep at all. The things needing to get done were too many and too time consuming. As it was, they'd all be tired when they got home. Hopefully it would be a good tired. The kind of tired that meant they'd accomplished everything they'd set out to do.

Reuben ended up spending the night on the couch as it was too late to even consider driving home. He'd have fallen asleep at the wheel. But, that also meant that Keith got to bed much later than Shirley would have liked yet again. She decided that for the rest of the time before they left she was going to make sure that he ate right, slept enough and was in the best of health. She knew he was going to push himself too hard once they got there. But she just could not bring herself to deny him his dream.

This trip would go a long ways toward helping them to achieve the level of exposure that would allow them to keep selling records. There wasn't much in their chosen field that meant more than a Grammy nomination. This was the big leagues. They'd made it.

Now, they just had to figure out how to stay there.

xoxo

Keith and Carol only had time for one date before he left for L.A. It had gone really well, too. Keith was disappointed that he couldn't spend more time with her, but Carol had assured him that she understood and that when he came back, she'd give him the chance to make it up to her.

He'd happily accepted her terms and packed the bus with a smile on his face just remembering their conversation and the make-out session that had followed. He had great hopes for this latest relationship he was starting. He'd just have to put it out of his mind for the two weeks they'd be gone. He had more important things to concentrate on.

They left home after school on Friday afternoon with her parents on the bus and Reuben following in his car. It was decided that once in the city, the family would either travel by limo when they were all together or in Reuben's car if it was only a few of them who needed to go somewhere. The bus would be parked by the recording studio so that their instruments would be handy for recording or in the underground parking garage of the hotel where the awards ceremony would be held on the night that they had to perform. All of the 'Song of the Year' nominees would be performing live the night of the show. Everyone was nervous and excited about performing in front of their peers. It was quite the honor.

When they were finally settled in the suite at the hotel, it was late at night and they all headed to bed. The next day was a light one considering Reuben's schedule didn't really kick in until Sunday. Why anyone would want to schedule interviews on a Sunday was anyone's guess. Maybe it had more to do with their availability on the other days, but they would answer questions on whatever time schedule Reuben wanted to give them.

_G-Day minus 10 – Saturday, March 6_

Bright and sort of late the next morning, hours before anything was scheduled, Reuben knocked on the door to make one final announcement.

"Guess what?" He pushed into the room past Danny who had answered the door.

"Well, good morning to you too." Danny said as he closed the door and quickly followed Reuben into the suite not wanting to miss a second of his announcement.

"What?" Chris and Tracy chorused while Shirley, her parents, Keith and Laurie all dutifully turned their attention to him.

"There's one more exciting development." Reuben loved to make them wait for his announcements.

"And, that would be?" Shirley prompted.

"Shirley, you and Keith have been chosen as presenters at the awards." Reuben beamed after making the announcement.

"Really? That's so cool." Laurie who'd been sitting next to Keith reached over to give him a quick hug of congratulations.

"Oh, no. Now I'm even more nervous about the fact that I don't have a dress already lined up. I'm going to grab my purse. Laurie and Tracy, we are going shopping. Now." Shirley, normally the calmest person in any storm, was almost in a full blown tizzy. "Reuben, you'll have to drive us. Oh wait, you can't. The boys need to be taken for their tux fittings."

"Shirley, it'll be alright. I'll drop you three on Rodeo Drive and then come back and get the guys. We'll be done long before you are. Then I'll come and pick you up? Sound good?" Reuben was the calm one at this point.

"Yes, alright. Oh, what if we don't find something?" Shirley had tried to not think about what could go wrong on this trip, but this was already looking like a potential problem. She'd known what they would wear while performing. That was a no brainer. The boys had it easy. They'd wear tuxes. Oh, why was it so difficult being a female at these awards shows? Their clothes needed to be perfect. Not to mention hair and make-up.

"Mom, it'll be fine. You'll see. You look great in everything. Finding something will not be a problem." Laurie reminded her mother and went a long ways toward calming her worries.

"Thanks, honey. You're right. We'll find something." Shirley pushed the worst of her worries aside and took a deep breath trying to calm her nerves.

xoxo

Reuben had promised to return a call from their record producer right when Shirley had called the suite to let them know they were ready to be picked up. They'd shopped for more than six hours but had finally found the perfect dress for each of them. Reuben had agreed to put it through as a business expense, so they'd not worried about the cost. They would look wonderful if she did say so herself.

Keith told Reuben he'd be only too happy to go and pick them up while he finished his call if he'd just give him the keys. Reuben tossed them over and walked to the phone.

"Be careful. L.A. traffic can be hairy." Reuben said as he watched Keith head to the door.

"It's not that far. I don't even have to go on the freeway. Relax. What could go wrong?" Keith assured him as he walked out.

"I wish he hadn't said that." Danny said as he shared a worried glance with Reuben.

"That's what I was thinking. I wasn't thinking anything would go wrong until he mentioned it." Reuben shook off his bad feeling and picked up the phone. Why invite trouble?

xoxo

Keith pulled into a parking space that wasn't too far from the store his mom had told him to pick them up at. There hadn't been one right in front, so he figured he'd just go and let them know he was here.

He got out of the car, locked it and started walking down the street. He was so used to walking around freely in San Pueblo that he hadn't thought about what his appearance on a public street would do.

Their fame was relatively new and he never had much time to walk around the cities they performed in. This was a situation he'd never been in before and had no idea that his fame had reached such a zenith that he would have to worry about his safety much less that of his fans.

He started to get a little nervous when he noticed a couple of teenage girls pointing at him and talking excitedly. His first inclination was to throw them a quick smile and he thought nothing of following through with it. He should have.

The girls took his smile as an open invitation to approach him.

"Hi, you're Keith Partridge, right?" The brunette had rushed over and asked in an excited voice.

Keith nodded, suddenly wary of answering but not thinking of lying.

"Ohmygod, I can't believe it. You're standing right here. Right in front of me. No one will believe me. Can I have your autograph?" She asked breathlessly.

"Sure." Keith grinned at her excitement. It was flattering to have someone that excited just to see him. "But, I don't have a pen."

"No problem. I have one in my purse." The girl reluctantly took her eyes off of Keith to dig in her bag for a pen and paper. While she was busy getting that out, her friends took the opportunity to draw his attention to them.

"Do you think I could take a picture with you?" Another of the girls asked. Keith finally realized that the four girls must be tourists as they were all armed with cameras.

"Well, if you make it quick. I'm meeting someone." Keith agreed, but didn't want to make his mom wait too long.

"Oh? Who?" The first one asked as she pushed the paper and pen into his hands. "I'm Cindy."

Keith grinned and signed her paper, personalizing it for her. As soon as he was done with that one, he signed one for each of the other three girls and then took pictures with each of them. Just when he thought he would be free to leave the four very happy fans, they were joined by several more girls. Before Keith knew it, he had a crowd of more than twenty girls clamoring for his attention. They started to push and shove wanting to get close to him.

Keith tried vainly to keep them calm and happy. He realized too late that he should never have acknowledged who he was but just kept moving. Now, he was stuck in an ever tightening circle and the crowd was growing. So far, they'd only reached out to touch him but he knew that could change quickly. He'd heard about mob mentality but had never experienced it. The group of fans was growing quickly and he knew that almost anything could change the behavior of the girls just as quickly. All it took was one of them thinking she'd gotten less than another and they could get aggressive.

He knew he'd been close to the store where his mother was waiting for him when he'd first stopped. He looked over the girl's heads to see that he hadn't gotten any further away, nor had he gotten any closer. He needed to get away from this group pretty quick.

He started trying to inch his way toward the store. The crowd moved with him, but he'd expected that. He was hoping that his mom would notice his predicament and help him out, but so far nothing. He kept signing autographs and letting girls stand next to him for a picture. He smiled graciously and chatted warmly with each of them hoping to keep the atmosphere relaxed. So far, so good.

He was within feet of the store front when he finally noticed his mom looking out the window with a worried look on her face. She was motioning for him to come in. One of the store workers was holding the door open and a security guard had just walked through the door and started making his way toward Keith.

Keith started to make his apologies about needing to leave by saying things like, 'thanks for buying the album' and 'thank you that's good to hear'. He finally just came right out and said, "Sorry, ladies, I need to go" and made a break for the door. He slid through as the shop door closed quickly behind him leaving the security guard to keep the still growing crowd at bay.

Keith glanced over his shoulder as Shirley grabbed his hand and pulled him deeper into the store. She knew that so long as he stayed in sight there was no way that the crowd would disperse. He followed her to a large fitting room in which Laurie and Tracy were anxiously waiting.

"Oh, you're alright." Laurie said as she walked over and pulled him into a hug.

"I'm fine." Keith assured her and then as soon as Laurie stepped back, he picked up Tracy who wanted to give him a hug too. With Tracy still attached to his neck, Keith turned to look at his mom.

"Guess we need to rethink how we move around the city." Shirley stated the obvious. "These nominations have definitely added a snag."

"I just offered to sign a few autographs. There were only four of them." Keith said a little dazed by how quickly the crowd had grown on him.

"I know, honey. It wasn't your fault. None of us, not even Reuben, would have suspected that would happen. We're so used to being able to move around at home that when we get to a different city we forget that people don't see us every day." Shirley put her hand on Keith's arm to reassure him. "But, now we have to figure out how to get to the car without being mobbed again."

"I have a suggestion." The young girl who had helped Shirley, Laurie and Tracy pick out dresses and held the door for Keith to get through had followed them back and was now standing tentatively just inside the door. She'd dealt with all types of famous people in her job at the upscale salon but even she was a little star struck by the handsome young man standing in front of her surrounded by the women in his family. He was even better looking in person. She'd seen him in many of the fan magazines that were out and about in the salon for patrons to read, but in person he was enough to take a girl's breath away.

"Anything." Shirley readily agreed.

"I could go out and bring the car around to the back. The entrance that we use for deliveries is well away from the front of the store and the crowd won't likely think of it quickly, so if we move fast, you should be able to get away clean." She suggested.

"Great idea! Keith, you've got the keys, right?" Shirley glanced at Keith and saw him put Tracy down after whispering encouragement in her ear that she'd be alright without hanging on to him so tight.

"Yeah, right here." Keith pulled them from his front jeans pocket and put them in the girl's hand. He felt a shiver race up her arm at the contact and couldn't help the grin that appeared. He watched the blush creep up her neck and turn her cheeks a warm pink then added to her discomfort by winking at her. "It's the blue Chevy convertible about two stores up."

Laurie watched it all from a distance and rolled her eyes at her brother's antics while whispering 'oh brother'. Leave it to Keith to flirt with a pretty girl when they were in a tight spot all because of him to begin with.

Shirley had noticed it too and just smiled. She'd been on the receiving end of the male Partridge charm with her husband and knew what the poor girl was going through.

As the girl left the room and Keith turned to see his mom and sister looking at him with the same 'good grief' look on their faces, he just grinned again and shrugged. Could he help it that flirting came naturally to him?

Within five minutes Keith was navigating the roads back to the hotel. In payback for being inconvenienced, Keith had been made to carry the heavy garment bags that carried their Grammy night dresses. He'd just grinned again. He'd have carried them anyway and making a girl blush was well worth it.

xoxo

Shirley filled Reuben in on Keith's recent adventure and they talked about what this new development would mean to the rest of their time in L.A. Most of the natives to the city would have been very blasé about meeting Keith, but the tourists were a whole different problem. Not only would they be likely to mob Keith given the chance, but they were also on the look-out for celebrities while they were visiting.

Reuben was secretly very pleased by the development. The more famous Keith became, the higher his star rose, the more records they would sell. In his opinion, this was a good development. However, he did understand Shirley's concern. This was her son who stood the risk of being hurt in an aggressive group of fans. He'd do everything in his power to protect him, but he also knew that it would be good for him to be seen around town. Not only seen around town, but being mobbed by girls would make a great picture too. He almost wished he'd had a photographer on Rodeo Drive that afternoon. He sighed at the missed opportunity. He'd hate to have to put Keith in the same potentially dangerous situation, but as it had happened, he'd sure have loved to have it on film. The publicity would have been priceless.

Reuben's thoughts were almost prophetic. On the news that night, there was a brief blurb about the mob scene outside the store. A news crew had been conveniently handy just down the street and had caught the tail end of Keith's 'mobbing' on film. They'd run the story as they were one of the stations scheduled to interview Shirley and Keith later in the week. It was great publicity for them too.

Reuben smiled smugly as he watched the clip. The wheels were spinning in his head about how to take advantage of this latest development. No publicity was bad publicity if you spun it right and the news station had put the proper spin on it.

Reuben figured he just might get a few more requests for interviews while they were in town. He thought about the few open spots in Keith's schedule and just how much push back he would get from Shirley in taking the free moments and turning them into new publicity building times. Would she agree? Should he tell her? He and Keith had several stretches of time where they were together while the family was back at the hotel. He could switch things around to take advantage of the open time slots. He'd have to do a little thinking.

And, on that thought, his phone rang with the first new request for an interview. Reuben smiled at his dilemma. It was a good one to have.

_G-day minus 9 – Sunday, March 7_

Sunday was a day of interviews. Shirley and Keith had most of them, but even some of the news stations wanted interviews with the whole family. They'd rented one of the meeting rooms at the hotel for the event. Shirley's parents waited on the sidelines while the interviews that included the youngest kids were conducted. As soon as they were over, they took them out to play or just go up to the room. Shirley, Keith, Laurie and even Danny stayed in the room for what seemed like countless hours.

They answered many of the same questions time after time. The interviewers would never have guessed that the question wasn't original because they all did a great job of answering it completely and making them feel like it was the best question they'd ever heard.

At one point, after almost 6 hours of solid interviews, one after the other, they finally took a break. The room was empty except for Shirley, Keith, Laurie and Danny.

"Does your face hurt as much as mine does?" Laurie asked as she massaged her cheeks allowing the ever present smile to finally slip from her face.

"My face, my throat and my….well….the part I've been sitting on for 6 straight hours all hurt." Keith agreed as he stood up to stretch his legs.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention how much that area hurts." Laurie said as she stood up too.

Reuben walked back in the door to see the exhausted looks on their faces. "Well, we have a short break to get some food in you and then another round of interviews. How's everyone holding up?"

A collective groan was his answer.

"Oh, come on, this is just the first day. If you're already tired how do you expect to hold up for the next 9 days?" Reuben's rah-rah session fell flat.

"Mr. Kincaid, you'd have made a great feudal lord. How long is the next interview session and we better be having steak and lobster for dinner." Danny said what everyone was thinking.

"You can have whatever you want from the hotel restaurant menu. On me." Reuben added quickly because he knew the next comments wouldn't be appreciated. "The next interview session isn't as long, ok?"

"How long isn't 'as long'?" Laurie asked.

"Five hours?" Reuben said as he slid out the door saying, "I'll go get the waitress to take your lunch order."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

_G-day minus 8 – Monday, March 8_

Tracy woke Shirley up at 8:00 in the morning. She rolled over slowly and looked at her daughter's smiling face. "Morning, mommy."

"Good morning, Sweetheart." Shirley could feel her lips lift in an answering smile.

"We're hungry." Tracy told her simply.

"Who, honey?" Shirley was still trying to push the last dregs of sleep from her mind.

"Me 'n Chris. We've been up for hours." Tracy couldn't tell time very well yet, so Shirley doubted the length of time.

"Where are Grandma and Grandpa?" Shirley knew her parents had wanted to take the concern of her two youngest from Shirley's shoulders while they were in L.A., so she'd expected that they would have gotten up with her two youngest.

"Oh, Grandpa's in the bathroom and Grandma's on the phone with room service." Tracy told her.

"She's ordering breakfast?" Shirley tried to keep the frown from her face as she tried to decipher her daughter's comments.

"Prolly." Tracy agreed.

"Then why did you wake me?" Shirley finally pushed the covers back and reached for her robe. It appeared that she was finished with sleeping.

"We figured you'd wanna join us. Chris is waking Keith now and once you get up, I'm gonna wake Laurie." Tracy informed her.

"Oh honey, I wish you hadn't." Shirley said and then saw her daughter's face begin to crumble toward tears.

"Why not?" Tracy said as her eyes began to brighten with unshed tears.

"Nothing, baby." Shirley quickly assured her. "We'd love to join you for breakfast."

Tracy's smile was quickly back on her face. "Ok, I'll get Laurie up."

If Shirley had been more alert, she might have stood a shot at stopping her, but she was still struggling to come to a state of full alertness.

One of the last reporters from their long day of interviews had mentioned that Simon and Garfunkel were performing that night at the club in their hotel. Keith and Laurie had practically begged her to be able to attend. She'd looked at both of their pleading faces and couldn't find the heart to deny them. They'd thoroughly enjoyed the acoustic performance by the fellow Grammy nominees and had even gotten the chance to talk to them once they were done. Keith had been in seventh heaven and Laurie wasn't far behind.

Unfortunately, Sunday night was one of the few nights that she'd expected them to get to bed early. She'd promised herself that she would be watching her two oldest closely to make sure they didn't overdo it while they were here and on the second night of their two week stay, she was already making concessions and her kids were losing precious hours of sleep.

Oh, well, today was another day. She redoubled her promise to herself to rein things in.

By the time she was done with her shower, dressing and putting on her make-up, the rest of her family was seated at the table polishing off plates of food.

"Morning, Mom." Danny saw her first and yelled his greeting over the boisterous group around the table.

Shirley smiled at him and watched as Keith and Laurie continued to regale her parents with stories of the night before. Neither one looked the worse for wear considering what little sleep they'd gotten. It must be the energy of youth.

Coffee. That was Shirley's next thought. Maybe a shot of caffeine would perk her back up and give her a shot at keeping up with her brood.

She smiled at her parents as she accepted the brimming cup of black coffee from her mother who had noticed her daughter struggling to take it all in while not fully awake.

"A cup of coffee will fix you right up." Amanda assured her daughter. "Maybe a little food, too, hmmm?"

"Sounds good, Mom. Thanks." Shirley said as she sipped her coffee on the way to the table to join her family. She nibbled on a piece of dry toast while her kids all talked a mile a minute. The dry toast was all she allowed herself. She had a dress to fit into. A dress that had been ever so slightly snug when she'd tried it on. She had no desire to have to hold her breath all night.

By the time that Shirley was awake enough to begin joining in on the conversation, there was a knock on the door. It must be Reuben. Their day of activity was about to begin.

Danny hopped up from his seat at the table and ran over to the door to answer it. As expected, it was Reuben.

"Hey gang." Reuben greeted everyone. "Any coffee left?"

"Sure, help yourself." Shirley waved toward the carafe and cup sitting on the wet bar.

"Everyone ready to go?" Reuben asked as he took his first sip.

"What is it today?" Fred asked.

"Today is a day in the recording studio." Reuben answered. "I'll have to drive you in shifts unless you all want to cram in my car."

"Some of us can walk. The studio isn't far." Keith offered. "Besides the fresh air would be good for me."

"No!" Came from several people as a startled look came over Keith's face.

"What? Why not?" He said defensively.

"Have you already forgotten what happened on Saturday?" Shirley reminded him.

"Oh, come on. That was a freak occurrence. Besides, we're far from Rodeo Drive and all the tourists." Keith reasoned.

"Not far enough." Shirley muttered into her coffee cup.

"I'm not taking any chances." Reuben said more loudly. "You are not going to just waltz down the sidewalk. You'll draw too much attention."

"He will if he really waltzes." Danny joked.

"Oh, come on." Keith ignored Danny's comment and tried to get Reuben to agree. "I need to get some exercise some time. I can't just sit in studios, hotel rooms and clubs the whole time I'm here."

"Me too. I'll gain too much weight to fit into my dress if I don't get out and move around some." Laurie quickly agreed. She'd liked the idea of walking too.

"No, I forbid it. Both of you. You'll let Reuben drive you and that's final." Shirley put her foot down and put a stop to the protests. "Take Keith, Laurie and Danny first. Then come back for me and Chris and Tracy. You know the producer will want to talk to Keith before we can even get started."

"Good idea. Ready to go?" Reuben asked as Keith, Laurie and Danny all got up from the table.

xoxo

"Reuben, I'm not sure I like it. Besides, you know how much Keith hates strangers in the studio. It's distracting." Shirley frowned at Reuben. He'd thrown another curveball her way as soon as she'd walked in the door and noticed the man with a camera hanging around his neck.

"Look, it's just for today and only for a couple of hours. It'll be great publicity. The Family at work, kind of pictures." Reuben reasoned.

"Only a couple of hours?" Shirley hesitated.

"Three hours tops. I promise. I already talked to Keith about it on the drive over. He was reluctant at first too." Reuben decided to be perfectly honest with her. He knew she'd catch him in a lie quickly so why bother.

"But, he's ok with it?" Shirley looked over to see her son laughing at something the young man with the camera had said. The man was wearing jeans and a Henley shirt. His hair was halfway down his back and pulled into a ponytail. He had a warm smile.

"Look, Henry's a professional, through and through. He's worked with lots of recording artists. You'll never even know he's here." Reuben's face was hopeful. "Why don't you let me introduce you?"

Shirley agreed and chatted with the young man for quite some time. He really was a genuinely nice person. There was nothing fake or false about him. He had put Shirley at ease within minutes.

"You'll barely know I'm here." He'd told her.

"We'll see." Shirley said doubtfully but did give him a warm smile. She liked him.

They spent the morning laying down tracks for the different instruments. The kids got several breaks, but Keith was fully involved at every turn. If he wasn't playing his guitar, he was making sure that his brothers and sisters were performing their parts exactly as he'd written them. He would sometimes, during breaks, show Chris what he wanted on the drums or Laurie something new that had struck him while they'd been recording. The morning flew by.

Reuben had left to get some lunch and Henry left at the same time. He had been mostly invisible the whole time though he'd taken countless roles of film. He'd promised to get Reuben some proofs in a few days.

When Reuben got back, they all sat on the floor and ate a picnic of fried chicken. Shirley and Laurie had winced when they'd seen what he'd brought. Neither wanted to eat much of the fattening food.

"What? They didn't have a salad?" Laurie asked as she pulled the greasy coating and skin off the chicken she held delicately in her hand.

"Sorry, wasn't thinking." Reuben admitted ruefully.

"No, you weren't. Where are the vegetables? And the dairy. There's no milk." Shirley added her dissatisfaction with their meal. How was she supposed to make sure her kids stayed healthy by eating well balanced meals?

"We'll make up for it at dinner, Ok?" Reuben tried to mollify her.

Shirley smiled gently at Reuben's offer. She didn't want to sound like a shrew, but she was so worried about how their busy schedule was going to affect her kids. There had already been changes to their schedules that meant less sleep than she'd originally thought. She felt like things were getting out of her control. She hated being out of control.

She wasn't a control freak. It was just that this was a hard enough profession to bring up a brood of impressionable kids. She didn't want them to lose their innocence. Their normalness. She loved her family just as they were.

xoxo

Dinner was back at the hotel with room service. A meal that Shirley ordered. One that was well-balanced and had vegetables, milk and fruit for dessert. She smiled as her hungry kids tucked into the hearty and healthy meal.

Keith and Reuben left shortly after to go back to the studio. Keith would start to lay down some of the lead vocal tracks. The rest of the family didn't need to be present while he did that. Every minute of Keith's time was precious on this trip and Reuben was managing it to the minute.

"Don't stay too late." Shirley reminded Keith as she kissed him on the cheek.

"I won't." Keith assured her as he grabbed his jean jacket and headed to the door.

"Now, don't forget you and Laurie have that interview early tomorrow morning with that Teen magazine." Reuben reminded as he didn't want to call the room later that night and wake anyone.

"Oh, that's right. How early?" Shirley frowned.

"It's set up for 8:00." Reuben had the door to the hallway already open.

"Where?" Shirley asked.

"At their offices." Reuben reminded her. He knew he'd told her the details, but there were a lot of things to remember, so he wasn't surprised that she'd forgotten.

"What time do we need to leave?" Shirley had no idea how far away the offices were.

"Early. It'll be rush hour." Reuben glanced at his watch. They'd promised the producer they'd be back by 7:00 and Keith was already holding the elevator down the hall.

"Oh, no. Any way we could have them come here?" Shirley hated to think of spending her time in traffic.

"Tell you what. I'll call them from the studio and see if I can make the change." Reuben wished he'd thought of that himself. It was a great idea. Why not make the reporter sit in traffic?

"Thanks, Reuben." Shirley smiled. Reuben really was a good manager. That didn't stop her from throwing one last warning as he walked through the door. "Get Keith home early."

Reuben threw one last smile over his shoulder and closed the door on the beautiful but worried mother of five.

xoxo

They'd been in the studio for several hours already. Reuben had changed the venue of Shirley and Laurie's interview for the morning and had been watching the proceedings from the control room. Wes, the producer, had just walked out to go and talk to Keith about something face to face. The microphones could be impersonal.

Reuben felt a smile try to tug at his lips. How did he get so lucky?

He couldn't hear what they were saying, but he watched Keith passionately relay an idea to Wes. At first Wes looked less than impressed, but after Keith showed him what he meant, Reuben saw Wes nod and then slap Keith on the back.

Reuben watched Wes walk back toward the booth. When he closed the door behind him, he glanced at Reuben and said, "How does such a young kid end up with so much musical talent?"

"Got me." Reuben agreed. "But, I'm only too happy to manage all that musical talent."

"Just like I'm only too happy to produce it. Just don't tell him that, hmmm?" Wes grinned at Reuben. "Wouldn't want him to know that most of his ideas are better than mine."

"Your secret is safe with me." Reuben assured him. "Wouldn't want it to go to his head."

"Not likely." Wes laughed at Reuben's joke.

They both knew that Keith was the least egotistical artist they'd either worked with. His mother helped keep him grounded, but it wouldn't have been a surprise that Keith would have gotten a big ego out of everything that had happened to him recently. It was a testament to his maturity that he still worked hard instead of resting on his laurels, few as they were to date. After all, he was still just over a month away from turning 17. But, both of them had been in the industry long enough to know that some people, the one-hit wonders of the world, often let fame go to their heads. Keith had avoided that fate, so far.

"Besides, the kid got me a Grammy nomination." Wes reminded Reuben as he turned back to the engineer sitting at the control board. "Cue the kid that we're ready."

Keith had been reading over some sheet music and waiting for Wes to let him know that they were ready to go again. As soon as the engineer told him they were ready, Keith picked up his headphones and stepped to the microphone. He nodded his own readiness and before too long, the music came pulsing through.

Reuben smiled again as he listened to the pure sounds of Keith's voice come through the speakers. The voice was golden! As golden as the Grammy Reuben hoped he'd win in just over a week. Grammies, plural, would be beyond belief.

It was closing in on midnight when Reuben walked out into the studio after the last take.

"How's it going?" Reuben asked.

"Alright." Keith said as he rubbed his throat absently.

"Throat sore?" Reuben asked a little nervously.

"Not sore. Just a little dry and scratchy." Keith assured him quickly. "I'm fine. Really."

"Need something to drink?" Reuben offered. "A soda or water?"

"Tea would be better. With a little honey and lemon." Keith smiled hopefully at him.

"On my way." Reuben turned to go back out. Studios always had the makings for the concoction that worked best at soothing sore, tired throats. He was back in minutes with Keith's requested beverage.

"Thanks. I'd say we should be out of here in under an hour." Keith sipped at the warm liquid feeling it coat as it went down.

"Sounds good. I'd have hoped to be done a little sooner, but this isn't too bad." Reuben assured him. He'd had it scheduled until 10:00, but Wes and Keith had decided to try several variations of a song. It had taken longer than they'd originally thought. "Tired?"

"Naw, I've got plenty of energy yet." Keith assured him. This was nothing. It was still early in the game. If he was tired now, he was done.

"That's good cause we need you to do one thing for us." Wes said as he strolled into the studio from the control room.

"What's that?" Keith asked as he polished off the tea and handed the cup back to Reuben.

"Somehow or another, the drum track got messed up. Feel like laying down a new one for us?" Wes queried.

"Sure, it'll give my voice a chance to rest for a while. Which song?" Keith headed toward Chris's drum set.

Wes and Reuben shared a smile at their agreeable star.

_G-day minus 7 – Tuesday, March 9_

Shirley opened the door to a very attractive, young blond reporter. She had an equally young photographer along with her. "Hi, I'm Aimee Keller with Teen Magazine and this is Andy Jay our photographer. It's nice to meet you Mrs. Partridge." She said all of that while taking Shirley's hand in a firm handshake.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you. Come on in. Laurie and I were expecting you." Shirley smiled warmly and wondered idly if the girl was even old enough to be out of college.

Aimee, noticing Shirley's close look, laughed knowingly and remarked. "I get that look all the time. Yes, I'm old enough to do this job. I graduated from UCLA last year. I'm actually 22. My editor loves the fact that I look so young and sends me on all of the interviews that include young women like your daughter. She thinks it makes them more comfortable talking to someone they can relate to; or so she says."

"Ah, I understand. I'm sure it helps looking so young." Shirley grinned not even slightly embarrassed at being read so easily.

"Well, Mrs. Partridge, I have nothing on you. You certainly look too young to have five children; much less one that's just about to be 17." Aimee smiled and glanced around the room. She had secretly admitted to herself that she was thrilled when the interview venue had been changed. She had hoped to catch a glimpse of Keith even though he was not to be part of the interview. At least in the Partridge hotel suite, she had the chance of bumping into him. She had hopes of including him as a guest visitor to her article. But, her glance around the room did not produce the young male she had hoped. She did, however, notice Danny sitting in a chair at a table that still held the remnants of breakfast.

"Excuse the mess. My parents are along on this trip and they just took Chris and Tracy to the park to play. I haven't had time to clean up after breakfast." In her mind, Shirley added that she hadn't wanted to take the breakfast dishes away as she was hoping Keith would have gotten up and eaten before the interview. As it was, he was still sleeping soundly and Shirley could only guess that he'd gotten back later than he'd expected. That happened often when he went to the studio. He could easily get wrapped up in his music and lose all sense of time. She intended on letting him sleep as late as possible. As it was, he would need to get up soon; he had his own interview with a guitar magazine in less than 2 hours and she knew he hated to be rushed when he was going to have his picture taken.

"No problem. We'll be sure to keep it out of the pictures. Deal?" Aimee easily agreed.

"Deal." Shirley liked this girl already.

"Hi, I'm Laurie." Laurie said as she walked out of the bedroom. She'd taken great pains with her appearance this morning knowing that she'd be photographed with her lovely mother. She hoped they'd make a stunning pair when they appeared in the magazine.

"Yes, of course you are – I'd recognize that clear skin anywhere. Oh Andy your job will be so easy today, won't it?" Aimee grinned at her slightly agog photographer and turned back to Laurie. "I'm Aimee Keller. It's a pleasure to meet you. Are we ready to get started?"

"Laurie, why don't you and Aimee get settled in the sitting area. I have one little thing to do first." Shirley said and headed toward the boy's bedroom.

As she walked past Danny, he couldn't help but warn his mother. "It's not going to be easy getting him up."

"What do you mean?" Shirley asked.

"He didn't get in 'til around 3:30." Danny informed her gleefully. He loved to rat out his older brother.

"You're kidding! Reuben said it would be before midnight. I thought he was sleeping awfully late." Shirley frowned but continued toward the closed door. Well, she had no choice. Lack of sleep might make him grumpy, but if he didn't look his best for his interview, he'd be downright surly.

"Told you Reuben was planning to work him to death." Danny smiled superiorly.

"That's enough Danny." Shirley shushed him glancing over her shoulder to notice that Aimee had been watching their conversation closely. Great, there'd probably be a blurb in the interview about discord between the family and their manager. Shirley smiled a bright, but false smile and disappeared into the bedroom.

"Where was Keith until 3:30 in the morning?" Aimee asked Laurie having heard every word.

"Oh, it's no big mystery; he was in the studio recording vocals." Laurie quickly told her making sure that Aimee didn't get the impression that Keith had been out all night partying like some young superstars were known to do.

"So, he wasn't at some all night party?" Aimee asked confirming Laurie's suspicions that she'd gotten the wrong impression.

"Sorry to give you the boring details of my brother's life, but he's way too busy to party. Actually, he works too hard if you ask me. But, partying? He doesn't have the time." Laurie wanted to make sure there was no confusion.

"Never?" Aimee asked in shock.

Danny strolled over to Aimee and motioned her close. Aimee leaned in expecting some great revelation. "He's about as boring as classical music at a rock concert."

"Danny, quit putting her on." Laurie chastised as Danny tried to play innocent. "I'm sure he'll be up before you leave and you can judge for yourself."

Laurie had no idea, but she was offering Aimee her dream come true; the opportunity to meet America's current number one Heartthrob.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Shirley couldn't help the smile that turned up her lips. Her son must have been woken earlier by his noisy brothers. He was currently flat on his stomach sprawled across most of the bed with a pillow on top of his head. She moved around to the side of the bed he was facing and her smile grew as she looked at his angelic features that were peaking out from under the pillow.

He was deeply asleep. She hated to disturb him, but he'd be angry if she didn't wake him in time to get ready for his interview.

She sat on the edge of the bed, pulled the pillow from his head and gently laid her hand on his shoulder. "Keith, honey, wake up." She said as she softly shook his shoulder. She knew her words would never have woken him on their own. He was a deep sleeper.

Keith's far hand made as if to reach for a pillow and put it back over his head.

"No you don't." Shirley grabbed the second pillow and placed it out of his easy reach. "It's time to get up. Come on, I know you're tired."

She watched Keith's eyes sleepily open and begin to blink at the bright light streaming in the window. Shirley had opened the curtains before sitting on the side of the bed.

"Come on sleepy head. You need to get in the shower. Reuben will be here to pick you up in just over an hour and I want you to have enough time to eat something before you go." Shirley kept talking to him as she watched him begin to take in his surroundings.

"What time is it?" Keith's voice came out thick and scratchy.

"Just after 8:00 and you need to leave before 9:30." Shirley reminded him.

"Right. Ok, I'm up." Keith rolled over but didn't bother to sit up.

"What time did you get back from the studio last night?" Shirley watched his eyes drift closed again.

"Some time after 3:00, I guess." Keith's voice was not coming back to him as quickly as it usually did. It was still rough and low.

"You guess, hmmm?" He had just confirmed Danny's tattling. She'd been afraid to believe him knowing that it meant Keith had only had barely 4 hours of sleep.

One of Keith's eyes opened slightly to gauge whether or not she was angry about the information. She didn't appear to be, so he decided to just be honest and hope she stayed alright with it. "Yeah, I ended up relaying some of the drum tracks. Something happened to the ones from earlier in the day."

"Oh, I see." Shirley frowned. The last thing Keith needed was to do someone else's work.

"What? Was I supposed to let them bring Chris in in the middle of the night?" Keith opened both eyes. He was finally beginning to wake up completely.

"No, I suppose not, but Keith, really, after 3:00? You need your rest." Shirley worried.

"I'll be fine. It was just one night." Keith sat up to prove that he was just fine. "See? I'm already ready to go."

"Well, make sure you hurry. I want you to eat something before you leave." Shirley stood up and began to move toward the door. "But, make that after you shower and dress. Don't forget we have a reporter in the suite."

"Thanks for reminding me." Keith grinned at his mom. He'd appreciated the fact that he wouldn't step out into the suite in his bathrobe and make a spectacle of himself.

"No problem, honey." Shirley said and closed the door behind her.

Keith flopped back down on the bed and let his eyes drift shut. Maybe just ten more minutes and he'd feel like a human being again were his last thoughts before sleep overtook him.

"Danny, give your brother ten minutes and then go back in there and wake him up again." Shirley said as she walked past Danny who had gone back to the table to finish his breakfast.

Shirley strolled over to the sofa and chairs where Laurie was already busily answering the questions that Aimee was throwing at her. She took a seat and was soon asked her first question.

Shirley waited ten minutes and then nodded at Danny letting him know it was time to wake his brother. Danny smiled slyly and got up from the table. He hid his smile from his mother, but had spent the ten minutes devising just how exactly he was going to wake his tired brother.

Danny had thought of and discarded several ways to wake Keith. All of them had him getting in serious trouble with his mom. He knew she'd be very angry if he embarrassed her in front of the reporter. So far nothing brilliant had come to him. And, brilliant it had to be. After all, he was Danny Partridge and Danny Partridge did everything in a spectacular fashion.

He paused to just watch Keith sleep peacefully for several seconds. Still, nothing brilliant came to him. Should he just go over and shake him awake? Naw, that was too easy. All of a sudden it came to him.

Danny crept over to the bed and knelt on an open portion of the mattress. Putting his hands down for additional movement, Danny began to hop up and down causing the mattress to sway. As soon as he noticed Keith begin to move toward wakefulness, Danny said in an urgent voice, "Keith, quick wake up! It's an earthquake!"

"What?" Keith said as he shot straight up. "Where?"

Danny began to laugh at the panicked look on Keith's face that quickly dissolved into anger once he realized the only part of the earth that was moving was his mattress and it wasn't because of an earthquake but because of a rat-fink little brother.

"You are going to pay for that." Keith said as he threw the covers aside and started after a quickly moving Danny.

Danny had wasted no time standing around laughing and had quickly jumped off the bed and headed toward the door; Keith hot on his heels.

Oh, it would be too perfect if Keith made an appearance in front of the reporter in his pajamas with his hair all over the place. Danny glanced over his shoulder to see Keith still coming. He was a little nervous to see a pillow clutched in Keith's hand, but Danny was just steps away from the sitting room of the suite and sweet freedom.

At the last second, Keith remembered the reporter in the suite and instead of chasing Danny out into the sitting room; he simply launched the pillow after his brother. Danny had no sooner crossed through the doorway than the pillow hit him square in the face as soon as he turned around to gloat at his big brother.

Shirley and Laurie saw the whole thing happen as they were facing the boy's bedroom. They both fought to keep a straight face and not let the reporter know what had happened, but they were submarined by Danny's cry of 'Oof - Hey'!

The yelp brought both the reporter's and the photographer's eyes to the spectacle of a stunned Danny standing there, a pillow at his feet and a quickly closing bedroom door.

"You were saying?" Shirley pulled the reporter's attention away from Danny by making her repeat her question. A short time later, they all heard the shower turn on. 'Good, he's up' was Shirley's thought.

xoxo

Keith made an appearance shortly before the interview was brought to a close. Aimee wanted to give Andy time to take more pictures before their time was up. She valiantly kept her attention on Shirley and Laurie as she asked a few final questions. They had covered fashion, beauty tips, dating, life on the road and life as a performing family. Aimee had apologized but explained her readers would never forgive her if she didn't ask what it was like to live with Keith. After all, her magazine was read by teenage girls across America and right now, Keith was the hottest property in that demographic.

Shirley and Laurie had expected the questions about Keith and had actually been surprised that Aimee had kept them to a minimum.

Unfortunately for Keith, he'd come out of the bedroom just at the time that Aimee started asking the questions that pertained to him. He stood behind them and rolled his eyes at the question and then his mom's and Laurie's answers. Thankfully they answered truthfully yet made sure not to embarrass him. If someone had asked Danny the same question, he wouldn't have been so comfortable with the outcome.

Keith had ignored the visitors and started looking through what was left over for him to eat for breakfast. Most everything looked either crusty or soggy at this point. He finally decided on a banana and more tea to soothe his still rough voice. He wasn't looking forward to talking all day, but he knew he didn't have a choice.

"That can't be all you're going to eat." Shirley had snuck up behind him as Andy was taking some pictures of Laurie by herself. There would be more pictures of Laurie as she was the teenager in the interview. The magazine knew what would sell and Laurie was it. She was beautiful and had perfect skin and hair. Everyone wanted to emulate her.

Keith jumped at the quiet words. "Nothing else looks all that appetizing right now." Keith ruefully admitted.

"I see your point. I can call room service and have something else brought up." Shirley offered.

"No, it's alright. I'm not all that hungry anyway. Now last night; then I was ravenous." Keith grinned at his mom.

"That's not making me feel better." Shirley smiled back at her happy son who didn't look like he'd only gotten a few hours of sleep. Maybe being so young would get him through this.

Keith leaned forward and kissed her cheek. "Quit worrying. I'm fine."

Shirley just threw a short, 'hmmm' in his direction and then asked, "You wouldn't mind saying hello to the reporter from Teen magazine, would you?"

"I suppose not, but why?" Keith frowned at her. "This is your's and Laurie's interview, not mine."

"Yes, but since you've made an appearance, our young intrepid reporter has become distracted and keeps throwing longing glances in your direction. I think maybe she'd like to say hi." Shirley said quietly.

"Really? She is pretty cute. Sure. I'll say hi." Keith grinned at his mother again as he surreptitiously checked out the reporter.

Shirley just rolled her eyes and grabbed Keith's arm to pull him towards Aimee.

"Aimee, this is my son Keith." Shirley said by way of introduction.

"Of course it is. It's nice to meet you." Aimee could feel the blush coming and fought vainly to stop it.

"Nice to meet you too." Keith grinned at the obvious nervous reaction Aimee was having and reached out to shake her hand. "How'd the interview go?"

"It went very well. I think our readers will enjoy taking beauty tips from two obviously beautiful women." Aimee smiled her thanks at Shirley again in hopes that if she took her eyes off of Keith her blush would subside.

"That's my mom and sister. Both beautiful people." Keith easily agreed and grinned at Laurie as she listened in on Keith's conversation expecting him to get in a good dig while she wasn't there to defend herself. She was pleasantly surprised that he was behaving himself.

"It runs in the family." Aimee said under her breath and then felt her blush renew itself as both mother and son shot her a look. Darn, they'd heard her. Aimee tried to quickly cover. "Would you mind taking a couple of pictures with your mom and sister? For the magazine? I know our readers would be pleasantly surprised."

"If it's alright with you." Keith looked at his mom. He did not want to horn in on her interview.

"Of course it is. Laurie?" Shirley deferred to her daughter who was really the star of this particular show.

Andy had begun to pose the three of them when Shirley quickly bowed out and let them take several shots of just the brother and sister. They had some fun doing some crazy shots and kept it up until Reuben showed up to pick up Keith.

"Sorry. Gotta go." Keith kissed Laurie on the side of the head and moved to walk away. The photographer had caught the impulsive show of affection between brother and sister.

"Have a good day." Laurie waved Keith away and watched Aimee watch him longingly as he quickly left the suite.

"See? I told you he wasn't out all night partying." Laurie had strolled up beside a still slightly agog Aimee.

"You're right, no one could look that good after a night of partying." Aimee quickly agreed and then felt herself blushing again. She hadn't blushed this much since she'd first started liking boys. What had gotten into her? He was more than five years younger than her besides.

Laurie just grinned at the poor reporter. She'd seen how her brother's charm worked on most women and this time Keith hadn't even been trying. Imagine how Aimee would have reacted if Keith had actually been flirting with her. Laurie glanced at her mom to notice that she was having much the same set of thoughts if her secret smile was any indication. Laurie's grin widened when she caught her mother's eyes.

They couldn't help it; they both just started laughing while Aimee and Andy gave them an odd look.

xoxo

That evening the family attended a dinner given by their record label, Bell. They were the guests of honor and everyone who had worked with them on their first album and the current one in the works was there. They also invited other acts from the label. The Monkees were there and so were the members of the Fifth Dimension. It was a lovely evening that lasted until midnight. Then, Shirley called it a night. She'd let Chris and Tracy stay up late as this dinner was in their honor too. But, when their yawns had become too often to ignore, she'd finally rounded them all up and headed back to the hotel.

_G-day Minus 6 – Wedneday, March 10_

Wednesday was another day in the studio. Keith had gone early with Reuben and Laurie. He'd wanted to get a jump on some ideas with Wes while Shirley had wanted Danny, Chris and Tracy to sleep in.

They laid down the instrumental tracks for several more songs throughout the day. Keith had decided to stay late again and lay down some vocal tracks for these latest songs. Laurie had decided to stay with him. She knew she'd be bored back at the hotel.

They worked until around 10:00 when Peter Tork strolled into the control room where Reuben and Laurie were listening to Keith record the vocals on 'You Are Always On My Mind'. He hadn't gotten the opportunity to meet Laurie the night before and started chatting her up. Reuben frowned at him, fiercely. She was only 15, what did he think he was doing?

Before long, it became apparent that Peter was just a fan of the Family. He hadn't made any suggestive comments and even went so far as to tell them that he needed to cut out soon. He was to meet his girlfriend at the Whiskey A Go Go and he had a few things to complete in his own studio before he left.

"Hey, I've got a groovy idea – why don't you and Keith join us." Peter said animatedly. "I hear there might be a surprise appearance by some big name act tonight. You just never know at this place."

"Oh, that sounds like fun!" Laurie beamed her excitement.

"Laurie, it's a club." Reuben put a damper on her mood.

"So? The guys at the door will recognize Keith and Laurie. They'll overlook their ages. Just don't let 'em drink. What do ya say?" Peter tried to help get them permission.

"No way. I am not doing this behind your mother's back." Reuben shook his head vehemently.

"We could call and ask her." Laurie suggested hopefully. "When will I ever get this chance again?"

"When you're 21." Reuben said bluntly.

Peter smiled his apologies at Laurie and took his leave. He headed back into another studio and finished up a few things he'd needed to do before he'd learned that Keith and Laurie were there. He needed to get a move on and meet his girlfriend.

"What's going on?" Keith had watched the animated conversation from the recording studio and wondered what they were talking about. As soon as he was done listening to the playback, he pulled off the headphones and headed in to find out.

Laurie quickly explained and soon Keith was just as excited as she was.

Reuben threw a wet blanket over both of them and repeated, "There is no way the two of you are going to a club. Neither one of you is close to 21. You are not going and that's final."

"It was worth a shot." Laurie looked at Keith and shrugged. It would have been fun. Oh well.

"Reuben, are you alright?" Keith looked at Reuben who was practically swaying on his feet.

"Yeah, fine. Just tired. Let's hurry up and finish." Reuben urged Keith back into the studio. "I want to get back to the hotel before the sun comes up."

"You know, you don't have to stay. I can get a ride back. Wes, you'd drop me off, right?" Keith looked at his producer who nodded his agreement. "See? You can go get some sleep. You must be getting too old for this." Keith teased.

"Too old! I'll have you know….." He trailed off as he realized he'd stepped right into Keith's trap. "Very funny! But, you are right. I don't need to stay here and fall asleep standing up. You seem to have plenty of energy. What do you still want to do tonight?"

"Probably a few more takes on 'Always'. I wasn't really pleased with that last one." Keith told him.

"Wes, you'll bring him back?" Reuben waited for his reassurance.

"Sure. Go ahead and get some sleep." Wes waved him away.

"Coming Laurie?" Reuben held the door.

"I think I'll stay. Keith said it wouldn't be much longer and I'd like to hear what he's got planned for changes." Laurie assured Reuben that she was fine.

"Alright, see you two in the morning." Reuben walked out.

Keith went back into the studio and laid down several more versions. An hour later they decided to call it a night. Wes was just about to drive them back to the hotel when Peter drove up to them in the parking lot.

"Oh, great, you're still here. Rumor has it that Paul McCartney is in town." Peter said excitedly. "It's not too late to change your mind."

"Really? Paul McCartney?" Keith said with interest. The Beatles were one of his and Laurie's favorite bands. He glanced at Laurie to see her almost glowing with excitement. "Wes?"

"You can't be serious." Wes groaned his reluctance. He should have seen this coming.

"Oh, come on. We'll be good. No alcohol. Not a drop." Laurie assured him.

"Look, they'll never even let you in." Wes tried to nix the idea.

"We could at least try." Keith joined back in the battle. "If they don't let us in, we go back to the hotel with no one the wiser."

Wes groaned as he let the two teenagers pull him toward his car. He should have known he'd lost the battle before it had ever begun. How could he deny a simple request from the guy who'd gotten him a Grammy nomination?

He prayed they wouldn't let them in, but his prayers went unanswered. The bouncer took one look at Laurie's pretty face and waved them in. He never even once asked to see ID.

Wes paused as Keith and Laurie walked into the club to tell the bouncer what a big mistake he'd made. "Hey, you know they're not of legal age, right?"

"Sure, man. But they're both Grammy nominees. My boss'd kill me if I didn't let them in. I know where my bread is buttered dude." The gargantuan man growled at him. "You don't need to go in with 'em."

"Oh, yeah, that's not happening. I'm already likely a dead man, but if I weren't I would be if their mother found out I'd left them alone here." Wes winced as he pictured Shirley's normally happy face screwed up in anger. He thought he might just leave for a very long vacation in the morning.

Wes felt a moment of panic once he got into the club when he couldn't find Keith and Laurie immediately. He scanned the room in a panic and finally spotted them winding their way across the crowded room toward a wildly waving Peter Tork. He lost no time trying to catch up to them.

In the dark confines of the room, they went surprisingly unnoticed for quite a while. That wouldn't last, though, and Wes had known it.

Before long, people were stopping at their table and asking for autographs if they were fans or just stopping to introduce themselves if they were fellow artists. The whole time they were there, Keith and Laurie had smiles on their faces.

"Wish I could tell Danny about this." Keith said in Laurie's ear. He'd practically had to yell to be heard over the loud music and crowd noise.

"Ha, I know what you mean, but this stays between us." Laurie grinned back.

"Deal." Keith quickly agreed. His attention was quickly pulled away from Laurie by a beautiful and obviously older redhead who'd walked over to their table.

"Hey, you're Keith Partridge, aren't you?" She said in more of a statement than a question. Keith just nodded. Without asking, she plopped down next to him in the booth and waved down a waitress. "I'll have a vodka rocks. You want anything?"

"Just a 7-Up for me." Keith said quickly and looked at Laurie.

"That sounds good." Laurie agreed. Neither would push their luck by having a drink.

Before long, Keith and the redhead were talking animatedly. Laurie was deep in conversation with Peter's girlfriend and enjoying herself immensely too.

Keith's new lady friend was totally disappointed when Keith showed the same attentiveness to every female that stopped by their table. She'd hoped to entice him into going home with her, but it didn't look too promising at the moment. She glanced away while Keith was charming a new girl who had stopped for an autograph and looked directly into the glaring eyes of a man sitting across the table from her.

Wes was glaring a silent message to the woman and had been since she'd parked herself next to Keith. He didn't want to embarrass Keith, so he'd stayed quiet. But, now that she was looking at him, he'd make himself perfectly clear.

A few minutes later, the redhead finally excused herself on the pretext of heading to the ladies room. She was disappointed when Keith easily let her go.

About an hour after they arrived, they were ecstatic to hear the announcement that Paul McCartney was in the house and was going to perform a few songs from his new solo album he was currently working on.

Keith and Laurie looked at each other and grinned. This was what they'd taken all the risks for. They hoped it would be worth it.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Laurie came back from the bathroom with a huge grin on her face. "You'll never guess who I ran into in the women's bathroom – literally."

"Laurie, you know I hate playing the guessing game. Just tell me." Keith frowned at her.

"Linda McCartney!" Laurie announced with pride. "I almost knocked her over when I was reaching for a towel to dry my hands. She looks so normal."

"What did you think she'd look like?" Keith could feel a bit of a smile beginning to form. It still made him laugh how star struck they could all get around famous people. They were starting to meet more and more of them everyday as their own fame rose, but it was still funny how they could get tongue-tied and nervous around fellow celebrities.

"Oh, I don't know, totally glamorous and…..just different." Laurie admitted sheepishly.

"I'll bet she'd be sad to know she disappointed you." Keith teased.

"Oh, I wasn't disappointed. She was soooo nice to me. I mean, she knew who I was. Can you believe it? Little Laurie Partridge was recognized by Linda McCartney." Laurie beamed her pleasure.

"Well, it's not like you're not famous in your own right." Keith reminded her.

"Not like Paul and Linda." Laurie threw back.

"True." Keith sighed and then threw Laurie a grin anyway. They may not be as famous as the McCartney's just yet, but they sure were working on it.

The room suddenly got very quiet and a buzz began to build. The DJ had stopped playing music and the dance floor lights had dimmed. A spotlight beamed through the smoky room and lit up the curtain in front of the stage. As the crowd waited with baited breath, the owner of the club suddenly appeared in the stream of refracted light.

"Ladies and Gentlemen." He paused for dramatic effect. "I know there have been rumors flying around all night about a special guest. I hate to disappoint you. You know that, right?"

Another pause for effect. "And, because I hate to disappoint, I am pleased to introduce…..PAUL MCCARTNEY!"

The crowd roared its approval.

Keith and Laurie exchanged another grin of excitement and then both leaned forward as the sound of music finally began to overcome the noise of the crowd. As the curtain parted and the spotlight found a lonely microphone standing in the center of a group of musicians, Laurie reached over and grabbed Keith's hand, squeezing hard. The suspense was driving her mad. Seconds later, Paul bounded into the pool of light with his bass in hand and tore into the first number.

The crowd roared its approval again.

Paul played for about 40 minutes when he finally stepped to the microphone to speak rather than sing. "Thank you for the great reception. It sounds like you really like the new music I've been working on."

His announcement was met with a wave of appreciation. He took the time to nod his acceptance and then waited for the crowd to quiet once more.

"Linda told me just before we came on stage that we have some celebrities in the house." Paul paused for effect. "It seems that a couple of fellow Grammy nominees are here to see me. Keith and Laurie Partridge, take a bow."

A second spotlight found them immediately and they were temporarily blinded by its unexpected beam. They blinked in surprise, but being the performers they were, quickly recovered and waved to the crowd. They both sighed a quick sigh of relief when the light went off.

"Well, there went our chances of going mostly unnoticed." Keith groaned to Laurie.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. We are so in trouble, aren't we?" Laurie agreed.

"Probably. Oh well, it was too much to think we wouldn't get caught, right?" Keith was used to being caught in any attempts to break the rules. It was his luck. "So, how does it feel to be the bad girl?"

"Kinda cool." Laurie admitted sheepishly. She was always the good one. Never did anything wrong.

"Rebel." Keith grinned at her.

They shared a smile and their attention was drawn back to the stage when Paul stepped back to the mic and said, "So, what do you say we try and talk Keith and Laurie into joining us on stage."

Wes cringed as the crowd once again whooped and hollered their approval of Paul's suggestion. While Laurie and Keith had been commiserating on their rebellious evening, Wes was praying for divine intervention. He got his answer. He must have done something very wrong – if not in this life, in a previous one. He didn't deserve this, did he?

Keith and Laurie thought about declining the invitation, but only for a second. Who could deny a request from Paul McCartney to jam with him in front of a live audience?

The club's security force helped Keith and Laurie wind their way to the stage and then assisted Laurie up onto the stage while Keith pulled himself onto the surface. He was met by Paul's extended hand and a wink.

"Hope you don't mind the surprise. What do you want to do?" Paul asked.

"Anything. Everything." Keith admitted unashamedly.

"I don't think we'll have time for that." Paul grinned.

"He sings a great 'Please, Please Me'." Laurie suggested as Paul shook her hand too. She'd remembered a recent jam session of Keith, Danny and Chris that she'd walked in on. Keith had been practically growling the words. Laurie leaned over and said in his ear, "Do it just like you did it in the garage last month. That'll bring the house down."

Keith looked at her in surprise. He'd had no idea she'd heard their goofing around.

"He does, hmm? Alright, give it a whirl." Paul waved Keith to the microphone and grabbing a harmonica, he and Keith had a quick word with his band. In seconds, the opening chords to the song began to fill the club.

Keith swallowed hard and then decided to just let it go. He put his heart and soul into the song and brought the house down just as Laurie had predicted. As the applause washed over him, he glanced over to see Paul shake his head in wonder.

"Kid, that was great, just great!" Paul beamed. "Let's try something of yours. I'd hate for you to make me sound bad on any more of my own songs."

Keith just laughed because he knew Paul had to be joking. I mean, he was one of the Beatles!

Laurie and Keith had a quick conference and decided that to keep the house rocking, they'd do a pared down version of Heartbeat. Laurie stepped over to a keyboard and Paul had another quick conversation with the band and they did their best to bring the house down one more time.

It was a heady experience for both of them. Not only did Paul's band know their song well enough to perform it, but it had sounded darn good.

When Heartbeat closed, Paul stepped back to the microphone one more time and said, "So, what did you all think of the new up and comers?"

While the crowd showed their appreciation, Paul talked quietly with Keith once more. Keith tentatively agreed to Paul's suggestion.

"I'm not sure if many of you know this, but I'm not the only one on this stage who's working on a new album; The Partridge Family is in the recording studio right now too. Keith has reluctantly agreed to sing one more song for you. It's something from their new album, and, as the band and I have never heard it, he and Laurie are going to do it all by themselves. What do you think?" Paul grinned as the crowd did their best to help assure Keith that he hadn't made a bad decision.

He quickly conferred with Laurie and she sat down at Paul's piano – feeling very privileged to be playing on the same instrument as someone she greatly admired.

"Ok, this is going to be very bare bones, as it'll be just the piano and me." Keith tried to prepare the audience to be disappointed. He should have guessed they wouldn't be, but at the moment he was mentally kicking himself for being talked into this. I mean, if it hadn't been Paul McCartney doing the suggesting, he'd already be off this stage. In fact, he'd never have gotten on this stage if it hadn't been the former Beatle doing the asking.

Laurie noticed Keith's nervousness and decided to help where she could. She winked at him and mouthed, 'knock 'em dead', before beginning to play 'Always on My Mind'. Keith grabbed the microphone out of the stand and strolled toward Laurie as he began to sing – at first quietly and then with more volume as he began to gain confidence. By the end of the song, the full contingent of instruments were playing in his head and he was giving the song his all.

Keith and Laurie stood together at center stage, took a bow and then headed off stage as the adulation poured over them. Paul was coming back on stage as they walked off.

"Great job, you two. I hope you win next week." Paul said and then took back the audience from his two guest performers as his band tore into their next number.

Keith and Laurie watched the rest of the act from the wings, silly grins firmly planted on their faces.

_G-day minus 5 – Thursday, March 11_

Keith and Laurie had happily stumbled into the hotel suite as the new day was well on its way. They'd kept their word to Wes about not drinking, but both were bleary eyed from lack of sleep.

"What's today?" Keith asked quietly as he finally seemed to notice that the sun was already starting to change the deepest dark of night to a softer shade of dark gray.

"Thursday, why?" Laurie's answer dissolved into a yawn that she tried to hide behind her hand.

"Oh, no. Today's the Today show interview isn't it?" Keith said as he fought off his answering yawn.

"Oh, no. It is." Laurie's tired look left her face as the surprise of their discovery sunk in.

"We have to be at the NBC studio by something like 6:00, right?" Keith tried to remember the schedule he'd poured over with Reuben several times.

"That sounds right. That can't be more than a couple of hours from now." Laurie felt a moment of panic take over. "Mom will be getting up soon, won't she?"

"I would think so." Keith agreed and started to walk toward the bedroom. "Let's just jump in the shower and tell her we decided to get a jump on the day."

"What, no sleep at all?" Laurie's brain was processing information slower than normal.

"Looks that way. What, you afraid of losing a little beauty sleep?" Keith teased.

"Look who's talking. You're the one who falls asleep in the middle of a crowd." Laurie threw back.

"Not today." Keith grinned as he disappeared behind the door of the boy's bedroom.

"No, I guess not." Laurie agreed and tiptoed into the bedroom she was sharing with her mother and sister. She grabbed her robe and locked herself in the bathroom. Keith's idea had been a good one. She needed a shower to wash the smell of cigarette smoke from her hair. She'd never get her mother to believe that she'd ended up smelling like that from the studio.

xoxo

Keith and Laurie both felt a little jittery as they waited for the TV station affiliate to get them set up. They'd loaded up on the coffee hoping that they wouldn't yawn mid-sentence during the interview.

The make-up people at the station had done a great job of covering up the lingering dark circles under their eyes. It was one time neither one of them minded wearing a little stage make-up.

They'd avoided their mom so far this morning, but with the armor of the make-up on, they finally felt like they wouldn't give themselves away if she looked closely at them right now. Thankfully Visine had taken care of the last traces of their late night.

Due to the earliness of the hour, the interview was only Shirley, Keith and Laurie. The younger kids had been allowed to stay at the hotel and sleep. Though both Keith and Laurie were fighting to exert their independence as they grew older, they both secretly wished this morning that they could have stayed back and gotten some sleep. As soon as thoughts of sleeping would cross their minds, memories of their exciting evening and the reception they'd received from the crowd would take over and they'd forget all about their loss of sleep.

With another cup of coffee downed by each of them, they were finally seated next to their mother who was right next to Barbara Walters. Ms. Walters was in L.A. for the run-up to the Grammy's. She was interviewing all of the nominees at some time or another this week. Keith and Laurie exchanged a nervous look while they took in the large TV cameras pointed at them. They were told that their interview would be seen live across the nation, thus the need for the early hour.

The interview went off without a hitch. Their had been a tense moment when Ms. Walters had started out with a question that Keith and Laurie were both sure was going to bring their previous night's activities to light, but it ended up being a question about the incident with the fans outside the store on Rodeo Drive.

Another train wreck avoided.

Ms. Walters surprised them when she asked if they'd be so kind as to perform a quick number for their live national audience. She pointed out that they had a piano available for their use.

Shirley turned to Keith knowing that it was his call. Keith smiled nervously and glancing at Laurie agreed tentatively with the words, "Well, I suppose we could do what we did last night."

Keith, suddenly realizing what his tired mind had allowed him to say, felt a wave of panic overtake him. The camera behind Laurie caught his expression, but Shirley and Barbara missed out on the expression, seeing only the back of his head.

"What did you do last night?" Barbara asked interestedly.

Shirley was asking the same question and waited for her son to turn back to her. She knew that if he had something to be guilty about, it would be written all over his face.

Laurie, knowing that Keith's comment was fixable if she hurried, quickly stepped in. "At the studio last night, it was just Keith and I. The rest of the family had gone back to the hotel while Keith stayed to work on the lead vocals. I offered to stay and keep him company. While we waited for the producer to set up for another take, Keith and I started messing around. Right Keith?"

Keith's look of relief was quickly masked as he turned back toward his mom and Ms. Walters to smile his agreement. "Right, we did a quick run through of 'Always on My Mind'. It's one of the new songs on our next album. It's obviously not the full arrangement, but it would certainly give you a taste for what it will be like in its finished form."

Barbara graciously accepted their offer and watched the two teenagers head toward the piano. Laurie took a seat on the bench and Keith stood beside the piano and numbly grabbed the microphone that an assistant handed him while Barbara turned to the camera and introduced the Grammy nominees and their new song.

Laurie rolled her eyes at Keith before the cameras turned to them and did her best to stifle the nervous giggle that was attempting to bubble to the surface.

Keith gave her a hard look and then threw her a look of appreciation for her quick thinking. She sure had saved their bacon.

Shirley, not sure if she was missing something, listened to her two eldest perform a beautiful rendition of one of their new songs. It was quite simple yet stunning in its simplicity. She beamed her pride at their talent.

After they were finished, Barbara and Shirley had walked over to join them and Barbara had signed off with the three jubilant family members standing behind her. They'd done a great interview on live television.

xoxo

They returned to the hotel for breakfast with the rest of the family and then headed back to the recording studio.

Keith and Laurie left with the first group again, not only to get things set up, but to make sure Wes didn't slip up.

"Are you kidding? I'm not about to mention last night. I like living too much." Wes quickly assured Keith after he'd reminded him to stay mum.

"Good. I just had to be sure we were all on the same page." Keith said as the studio door opened to admit Danny. He'd come with them, but Laurie had tried to distract him while Keith and Wes talked.

"Same page for what?" Danny always needed to know what everyone was talking about.

"The song arrangement." Keith said easily. It was a perfect cover and not unusual.

"Which one are we working on today?" Danny asked.

"Umbrella Man." Keith told him and shared a quick look with Wes.

Danny caught the look but couldn't decipher it. He figured that he'd find out whatever they were trying to hide sooner or later. He'd become suspicious when Laurie had told him to come and look at this gold record on the wall. It had been there since they'd been recording at this studio, so what was so special about it today? Laurie's answer seemed fishy and stilted to Danny. It was why he'd hurried into the studio only minutes after Keith had closed the door behind him. Apparently whatever Keith and Wes had talked about hadn't taken long because they appeared to be done already and in complete agreement. Darn.

xoxo

The day in the studio was supposed to have been done by dinner, but they'd had problems. It was in the evening and the kids were becoming cranky. Keith and Laurie were quickly running out of gas and the youngest ones were simply restless from being bottled up all day without a good outlet for their excess energy.

Keith was sitting at the control board with the engineer while the rest of the family was standing around microphones trying to lay down the background vocals.

One minute, Keith was awake and listening. The next, his head had fallen forward and he was fast asleep.

Reuben, standing behind him, noticed the movement of Keith's head and moved next to him to check out what he thought had happened. Sure enough, Keith was fast asleep.

Reuben looked at him in amazement. Keith had never fallen asleep at one of their sessions. Then again, they'd never had such long sessions and so many outside commitments to boot. However, it hadn't been that many days since they'd started this hectic schedule and Reuben had been sure that Keith would hold up much longer than this. If he was dropping off during recording sessions so early in the schedule, this did not bode well.

Of course, Reuben had no idea that Keith hadn't slept for two whole days and that the previous nights had been only a few hours before that. He'd gone home early the night before and gotten 9 hours of solid sleep himself and had felt loads better today. He thought that Keith had gotten a little less than that, but a good 7 hours of sleep for sure. He was sadly mistaken.

"Keith." Reuben shook him awake. He thought about letting him sleep, but if Shirley saw him sleeping at the control board, the rest of Reuben's grueling schedule for Keith would be brought to a screeching halt.

"What?" Keith jerked awake and his eyes shot around the room coming to rest on Reuben's concerned face.

"You alright?" Reuben asked quickly.

"Fine. Why?" Keith was still trying to wake up completely.

"Well, you just nodded off in the middle of the recording session. That's not like you." Reuben reminded him.

"Sorry. It was the lack of movement. I should have stayed standing." Keith sounded more like he was lecturing himself than explaining things to Reuben.

"This isn't too much for you, is it?" Reuben almost added 'already', but then thought better of it. He knew Keith would take that as a challenge and if his star really was too tired already maybe something was physically wrong with him.

"No. I told you, I'm fine." Keith stood up so that he wouldn't feel the need to give in to the desire to close his eyes again. Oh, they burned.

"Good. We should be done here soon. We don't have anything you need to do tonight. Why don't you skip the reception and just head to the hotel room." Reuben offered. He figured that the sponsors of tonight's party would just have to do without one of its star attractions. Shirley could attend by herself. Maybe they wouldn't notice Keith's absence. Yeah, right? Dream on Kincaid. Who are you kidding?

"Isn't the presenter's reception tonight?" Keith thought he'd remembered a last minute change to the schedule for that night. They'd only found out a couple of days ago that he and his mom would be presenting. This party was an added activity.

"Yeah, but you don't need to go if you don't want to?" Reuben suggested again.

"Are you kidding? I think they'd be pretty ticked if I didn't show up, don't you?" Keith reminded Reuben.

Reuben just nodded and let it pass. Since standing up, Keith did look more awake. Of course, after nodding off at the control board, the fact that Keith's eyes were open made him look more awake.

"We can make it an early night, how does that sound?" Reuben tried a new tact.

"Sure." Keith easily agreed. He just wasn't sure that Reuben could promise that or that Keith would even want to make it an early night once he was there. It was always exciting to meet new people; especially those in the same business. Keith loved to pick their brains and hear about their experiences. They were so new to this.

"See? I think they just finished up." Reuben said as he watched the family put down their headphones and saw Wes give them the thumbs up.

xoxo

Just as Keith had suspected, once he got to the reception he stayed wide awake. The opportunity to talk to his fellow songwriters and performers was just so exciting. He got to meet real giants of the industry like Henry Mancini, Burt Bacharach and the emcee of the Awards show, Andy Williams.

He and Shirley sat at a table with Bobby Sherman and Nancy Sinatra. It was a blast to hear Nancy tell stories about growing up with her father, Frank. Even Shirley enjoyed the conversation at their table.

He stuck close to his mother's side for most of the evening. He figured that if he stuck close to her side no one would feel the need to mention his and Laurie's previous night's activities. Of course, he was pretty sure no one at this party had been there. Otherwise, they'd have gotten the same treatment that he and Laurie had, right?

Whether or not his assumption was correct, Keith made it through the night without anyone even once mentioned the Whiskey A Go Go or Paul McCartney's performance.

They quietly slipped out of the party just after midnight and Reuben was driving them back to the hotel. Keith had slid into the back seat and almost immediately fell asleep. Shirley had asked him a question shortly after they pulled from the curb and was surprised to find him sleeping peacefully.

"Reuben, he's sleeping." Shirley said in awe.

"What? Already?" Reuben tried to look behind him but still keep his eyes on the traffic that was still heavy considering the time of night.

"Oh, I hope this schedule isn't too much for him." Shirley worried.

"Come on, Shirl. Don't worry. He's always been a person who could take quick catnaps. He's young. He'll get through this with flying colors. You'll see." Reuben quickly assured her and then threw a quick prayer heavenward as he remembered Keith falling asleep at the recording studio earlier that day. Maybe he was pushing the kid too hard.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

_G-day minus 4 – Friday, March 12_

It was just after 8:00 in the morning and Keith was once again in the car with Reuben, Laurie and his mom. They were on their way to record an interview with Dinah Shore.

He felt remarkably rested after only getting 6 hours of sleep. However, it was a heck of a lot more sleep than he'd gotten the three previous nights. His body must be officially confused if it was thinking 6 hours was enough. Laurie was looking completely refreshed. As soon as Keith and their mom had left for the reception, Laurie had snuck off to bed. She'd gotten 10 hours and was completely back to normal. Keith was secretly jealous.

After another successful interview was 'in the can', so to speak, they headed back to the hotel. They were going to grab a quick lunch, pick up the rest of the kids and then head over to the studio for the afternoon. The family had just settled down to eat when Reuben came in with another schedule change that was a 'can't miss' opportunity. Sunday was to have been Keith's only day of rest for the whole trip. Reuben nixed that idea when he brought up an offer from Glen Campbell for Keith to guest on his variety show. Glen had wanted Keith's appearance so badly that he'd jumped at the chance to film it on the only day Keith had available, which was Sunday.

Reuben had brought up the opportunity hopeful that Shirley would agree but knew he was in trouble when Shirley had told the rest of the kids to leave the room while Reuben, Keith and she discussed it.

"Uh oh, this means there's going to be an argument." Danny joked as he reluctantly followed the rest of his siblings into one of the bedrooms to give the adults time to talk.

"There isn't, is there?" Keith asked just to be sure. "Going to be an argument, I mean."

"That all depends on whether or not you accept my answer; which just so happens to be 'no'." Shirley said firmly.

"Shirley you can't be serious." Reuben started and then caught her frown. Yep, she was serious. But, how could she be?

This was too good of an opportunity to pass up and Keith and Reuben shared a look that said 'which one of us is doing the fancy talking to get Shirley to see it our way?'

"Mom, I want to do this. I need to do this. I may never have this opportunity again. This is one of those one in a million chances." Keith thought he'd start with reason instead of begging, though that was not outside of what he was prepared to do in order to get her to agree with him.

"Keith, Sunday was your only day off for this whole two week period. When we agreed to this ridiculous schedule, I was adamant about keeping one day free. Have you forgotten that?" Shirley reminded him of their previous negotiations. She'd been very clear and Reuben had cancelled several interviews just to meet her demands.

"Mom, I'm fine. I don't need a day of rest." Keith stood up from the breakfast table where they'd been sitting; too nervous about her possible refusal to just sit there and take it.

"You haven't had more than 6 hours of sleep on any night. Some much less than that." Shirley stood up herself.

Keith turned away from her and walked toward the windows. He flinched at that one and was glad he hadn't been facing her. She'd be livid if she'd known that he and Laurie had actually completely skipped sleeping on one night. Thankfully she wasn't aware of that and he wasn't about to point it out. Instead he turned back toward her and put on his most sincere face. "I haven't missed anything up to this point because I was just too tired to do it, have I?"

Reuben frowned slightly when he remembered Keith had fallen asleep at the studio just the day before. He quickly pushed that from his mind as he watched the look on Shirley's face turn from obstinate to one that said 'maybe'.

"I'm not too tired to do this; honest." Keith almost added 'please', but thought that might just be overkill. This was something he really wanted to do. It would show his talent to a very broad range of the American population.

"Keith, we need this time off. Your brothers and sisters are too young to keep such a busy schedule." Shirley decided to use the rest of her kids as ammunition against her oldest who was quickly beginning to change her mind and she wasn't quite yet prepared to give in.

"They all still have a day off. In fact, their schedules haven't been all that hectic; you made sure of that." Keith negotiated.

"Yes, but what about you?" Shirley knew that argument had been a stretch. It was just that Keith had been going nonstop since they'd left San Pueblo.

"Mom, even if I'd have taken a day off, I wouldn't really have. You know that, right? I'd have been writing music or arranging a song. Something. Anything." Keith gave her his best 'oh please' smile. "You know I'm right."

Shirley looked at Keith and frowned. Yes, she knew he was right. He never really took a break from music. He lived and breathed it. If he wasn't writing, he was usually still playing his guitar or listening to some new album he'd picked up. She'd really tried to get him to take it easy several times, but it had always backfired. He'd been miserable every time she'd forced him to take a break.

"Yes, but writing music is much less tiring than recording a variety show. Are you absolutely sure you can do this? Want to do this?" Shirley said firmly.

Keith just nodded eagerly. He knew she didn't need any more convincing. He could see she'd lost her resolve to deny him this opportunity.

Reuben, who up to this point had let Keith do most of the talking, decided to gently nudge her over the edge. "Shirley, how often will this type of opportunity come up? It's not like you're in Los Angeles all that often and Mr. Campbell is being extremely accommodating by recording the show on Sunday. I mean normally they'd record during the week. This is a special and very expensive change that the show is making just so that they can have Keith as a guest star."

"Reuben…." Shirley started and then stopped herself. She'd been close to telling him that she knew all of that. And, she did. It was just that she was worried, as any mother would be when one of her children was pushing himself so hard that she knew at some point in time his body would physically just quit on him. It was inevitable.

"Well? What did you decide?" Danny came back into the room thinking that their conversation should be finished by now.

"Mom?" Keith looked at her pleadingly asking her to answer Danny's question.

"What, you haven't decided yet?" Danny said in amazement. Even he knew this was too good to pass up. Although he'd been disappointed that the invitation had been extended to only Keith instead of the whole family, he'd realized immediately that this type of exposure was worth millions in publicity. "Mom, you can't really be thinking of not letting Keith do this, are you?"

"Danny, please, stay out of this." Shirley was feeling like they were ganging up on her. She hated to disappoint even one of her kids, but all of them? That was always the hardest. She'd done it when she had to, but did she really have to this time? Was she holding Keith back just because she was worried for his health or was she being silly about the whole thing? After all, like he'd told her before they'd left, he was young. His body would allow him to do so much more than it would once he got older. He bounced back so quickly. He always had.

Danny was just about to say something else when Laurie, who had come with him, put her hand over his mouth and shook her head at him when he looked at her in surprise.

"Don't over do it." Laurie whispered in caution. She knew that if push came to shove, her mother could be very stubborn. She was never inflexible, but if she felt like someone was trying to force her into something, well, that was a different story.

"Mom, please?" Keith finally gave in and, if it wasn't out right begging, it was as close as he would normally come.

"Keith, if you're sure, I mean really sure, that you want to do this – can do this – then I won't stand in your way." Shirley conceded with trepidation.

"Oh, Mom, you won't be sorry." Keith walked over to her quickly and gave her a kiss on the cheek in thanks for grudgingly giving her approval.

"I think I already am." Shirley whispered to herself as Keith quickly turned away to celebrate with Laurie and Danny.

While her three oldest talked excitedly about Keith's upcoming appearance, Shirley walked over to Reuben. He watched her approach anxiously.

"Reuben, you'll make sure they don't keep him there too long, right?" Shirley gave him a hard look.

"Sure Shirley. I'll make sure he doesn't over do it." Reuben assured her, relieved that she wasn't angry at having given in. "In fact, you can be in the audience to watch. He'll be fine. He'll do great!"

"Thank you." Shirley put her hand on Reuben's sleeve and gave him a worried smile. "I know he's very grown up for his age, but he's still one of my babies."

"It's alright. I understand." Reuben put his arm around Shirley and gave her a slight squeeze. "He'll be fine. You'll see. He won't even realize how long the shoot will take; he'll be having so much fun."

Reuben was glad he'd pulled her close so she couldn't see the wince he gave at his words. He'd just reminded her that it would be a long arduous shoot for the show. He felt her stiffen and then relax again as she resigned herself to her decision. She couldn't change it now; not without disappointing her kids more than she was willing to.

xoxo

They spent a long, full and very productive afternoon in the studio. Reuben was pleased at the progress they'd made. He'd have liked to keep Keith at the studio after the instrumentals had been done, but he knew that Shirley would balk at the idea.

When it became apparent that the day would be much shorter than originally planned, Wes had invited the family over to his house for a barbecue. He'd thought that he and Keith would be spending most of the night in the studio and therefore had no other plans.

He called it his 'thank you' dinner to the family for having gotten him a nomination. He'd need a little time to stop at the store to pick up supplies for the unexpected party, but he insisted it was what he wanted to do.

Shirley happily accepted knowing that it would be an early evening and that Keith would get a good night's sleep – finally.

They spent a wonderful evening in Wes's backyard talking and enjoying the southern California weather. It was so much warmer than northern California in March. The kids were running around expending energy that Wes had no idea they could possibly have left.

Shirley laughed at his look while Danny chased Chris and Tracy around in a spirited game of tag. "Wondering where all that energy comes from?"

"Yeah, I would have thought after a long day of recording that they'd be worn out." Wes said in awe as he began to flip the steaks on the grill.

"Yep, just when I'm about dead on my feet, they find this amazing spurt of energy and force me to keep going a little longer. If nothing else, it keeps me young." Shirley laughed.

"You don't need the help, but if that's the true secret, maybe I should be looking for a wife and think about starting a family." Wes laughed along with her.

"Hmmm, maybe I should remind you that they are also the cause of all my gray hairs. That might help you to change your mind." Shirley gave him a mock frown.

Wes laughed hard at that one. There was absolutely no hint of gray in the lovely head of blonde hair and she knew it.

"What's so funny?" Laurie asked as she walked up, Keith right behind her. They'd been watching the kids play, but had grown too hungry to not check on dinner.

"Just discussing the pros and cons of having children." Wes told them.

"Which one won?" Keith joked.

"We never came to that conclusion." Wes admitted. "Alright, if someone wants to run into the house to grab the salad, it looks like these steaks are ready to be eaten."

"I'll go." Laurie offered quickly.

"I'll go with you." Shirley grabbed Laurie's arm and they headed off chatting happily.

"So, nervous about Sunday?" Wes asked Keith who had stayed behind and now held the platter for Wes to transfer the cooked steaks.

"No, why, should I be?" Keith said the last part a little more slowly than the 'no' had come out. What did Wes know that he didn't?

"No, I'm not saying you should be. That's not it at all." Wes said quickly. He'd just meant to start a new topic of conversation not put the kid on edge.

"Well, you meant something by it." Keith reminded him.

"It's just that a variety show usually means some dancing along with the singing. The singing part you'll handle. That's a slam dunk. I just didn't know how you'd feel about the dancing part." Wes grabbed the platter quickly away from Keith who looked like he just might drop it at any second.

"Dancing? Really?" Keith said nervously.

"Well, not dancing like ballet or ballroom dancing, but I'm sure there'll be some kind of skit that involves dancers." Wes walked over to the table and Keith followed as if in a trance. "Look, you may not have to do that. I shouldn't have mentioned it."

"No, it's alright. I guess I'd be alright with that." Keith said unsurely.

"Alright with what?" Shirley asked as she set the bowl of greens on the table while Laurie set down several bottles of salad dressing.

Keith just threw her a weak smile while Wes decided to jump in. "We were just discussing what the skits might be like for his appearance on a variety show. I mentioned dancing and Keith has gotten a little green."

"Oh, gosh, I never thought about that. You hate dancing." Laurie added not realizing that she wasn't helping.

"Well, it's not that I hate it. I just don't do much of it." Keith admitted sheepishly.

"What do ya mean? You dance every time we're on stage." Danny had run up as soon as he noticed the food was being set out.

"That's not dancing. That's moving to the beat." Laurie pointed out helpfully.

"What's the difference?" Chris asked having followed Danny to the smell of food wafting across the backyard.

"Plenty." Laurie said while bumping her shoulder into Keith's.

Keith really was getting a little green. Maybe he'd have been better off if his mom had told him he couldn't do the show. Dancing? Could he do it? Gosh he sure hoped so or he'd look like a real horses…..well, he'd look like a fool.

"Hey, listen!" Danny pointed up to the speaker that was attached to the side of Wes's house. Up to now it had been playing music from one of the local radio stations. Danny had made everyone stop and notice that they'd been playing 'I Think I Love You'.

As everyone listened to the last few bars of the song, the announcer came on and said, "Well kids, here's the big announcement I've been telling you was coming about one of this year's Grammy nominees. It has recently come to this radio station's attention that Glen Campbell has moved heaven and, well, that place that's much lower than heaven, to get this nominee to appear on his show. And, if you haven't guessed by now, I have chosen the previous song as a lead in to the big reveal. The young man appearing on Mr. Campbell's show is none other than Keith Partridge! Now, I know there are many of you out there listening who would just love the chance to see this young man in action. So, we have a major announcement about how you can get tickets to Sunday's taping. Right after this commercial, I'll be giving you the details."

Everyone looked at Keith to see him blanch even further.

"Keith, are you alright?" Laurie asked as she watched the color drain from his face.

"Sure why?" Keith said even though he felt like he was in a fog.

"Keith, you didn't by chance just remember that these shows are filmed in front of a live studio audience?" Danny finally put two and two together.

Keith's look told everyone that what Danny had said was in fact true.

"Oh, Keith how could you forget?" Laurie put her hand on Keith's arm in support.

"I got it!" Reuben came around the side of the house waving a sheaf of papers.

"Got what?" Shirley asked.

"The script for Sunday's appearance. That's where I've been for the last hour. I stopped by Mr. Campbell's Producer's house to pick it up. You've got quite a bit to learn. They asked if we could get there extra early for a little rehearsal." Reuben said not knowing that he'd walked in on Keith having a crisis already and unwittingly adding to his consternation.

"Keith, are you going to be alright?" This time Shirley asked the question.

Keith swallowed hard and finally just decided that he couldn't back out at this late date so he'd just have to brazen his way through. "Sure mom. I'm fine."

As he said the words, it was as if his confidence began to return to him. His color came back and he no longer looked like he was going to be sick.

"Good. I'd hate to have given you permission to do something you really didn't want to do." Shirley reminded him that she'd been against this from the beginning and if he hadn't fought for this opportunity he wouldn't now have to be nervous about it.

"You'll be great. You know that, right?" Laurie leaned close and whispered in his ear.

"Thanks Laurie." Keith kissed her quickly on the cheek as she smiled her encouragement at him.

Reuben handed the pages to Keith and they all sat down at the picnic table. Keith read through the pages and found that his appetite was as hearty as ever. It appeared that most of what they wanted him to do was sing and play the guitar. That he could do blindfolded. There were some lines of dialogue, but they didn't seem like too much.

Everyone watched him as he read and ate. As he began to eat with more gusto, Shirley, Reuben and his siblings all began to relax. He appeared the same confident leader of their group once again. He'd come through this like a pro.

They were sitting around talking about the new album when they heard some giggling on the other side of the hedges that separated Wes's backyard from his neighbors.

"What's that?" Danny said as he noticed the giggling for the second time in just a few minutes.

"I suspect that my neighbors have just discovered who my company is." Wes winked at Danny.

"Who are your neighbors?" Reuben asked.

"Mr. and Mrs. Phelps. He's an attorney. They have two sons and….two daughters." Wes leaned toward Danny to impart this last piece of information. "I suspect the giggling is the girls. Don't you?"

Keith was still looking at the script and not paying attention to the conversation. Danny glanced at his total lack of awareness about what was happening around him and watched to see when he would notice that he was once again the focus of attention, not only by those at their own party, but those on the other side of the bushes.

"So, when do you suppose they'll make their presence known?" Danny would have leaned back and crossed his arms, but there was no back on the bench.

"Oh, I'm thinking that they won't be able to contain themselves much longer. Hope you don't mind staying a little longer. They'll want to meet you all." Wes smiled his apology at Shirley. He remembered that she'd wanted to make it an early night. It was already approaching 10 and he knew that the teens and preteens who lived next door might just keep the family here for several hours if not reined in.

"No, that's alright. We always like to meet our fans. Don't we kids?" Shirley agreed readily. She hated to disappoint fans, especially when it was just a few of them. They were so much easier to control and manage than large groups.

"Shall I invite them over?" Wes received nods from everyone but Keith who was still absorbed in the pages in front of him. "Keith?"

"Hmmm?" Keith finally glanced up having missed the previous conversation. He'd been absently picking at the fruit salad that Wes has served up for dessert.

"I think there may be a few fans who would like to meet you. All of you." Wes patiently filled Keith in.

"Where?" Keith looked around in surprise. There was no one in the backyard with them.

"Girls? You can come on over if you'd like." Wes called and within seconds, two girls one about 15 and the other a couple of years younger, almost fell through the hedge in their eagerness to meet their idol.

"Hi, Wes. We couldn't help but notice your visitors. Hope we didn't interrupt." The oldest one said.

"No Kathy, it's quite alright. Come on over Mary. Aren't Josh and Jacob with you?" Wes waved them over and finally two boys of around 10, twins apparently from their similar appearance, followed their sisters. "Kids, come on over and meet the Partridge Family."

"Thanks Wes, I always thought you were putting me on when you told me you were working with them on their album." Kathy said as she walked over her eyes never leaving Keith.

"I think I should be hurt." Wes joked and Kathy finally tore her eyes away from Keith to make sure he was kidding.

"I'll never doubt you again." Kathy said almost reverently as her eyes quickly went back to Keith.

Wes had always assumed that Kathy had a bit of a crush on him because she'd always been so bashful around him. He was happy to see that if she had a crush on him, she was madly in love with Keith. It would make living next to her more comfortable; knowing that she carried a torch for someone other than him.

"Kids this is Shirley Partridge and her family; Keith, Laurie, Danny, Chris and Tracy." Wes said.

"We know who they are." Mary told Wes her eyes glued to Keith as well.

Keith threw the girls a welcoming grin and glanced at the boys to notice that they were staring at Laurie in awe.

Keith and Laurie shared a look that said 'guess you have new admirers'. It was a look they shared often. All their young male fans thought Laurie was the prettiest girl in the world and, well, everyone knew how the female population felt about Keith. They would make it well known by the volume of their high pitched screams whenever he made a personal appearance.

Keith and Laurie stood up and walked over to greet the neighbor kids and soon had them telling them all about themselves. The kids talked for at least 15 minutes before they realized that they had their crushes in front of them and instead of asking them questions, they were talking about themselves. Once they realized that, Keith and Laurie were answering question after question. Questions about who they were dating, how they liked recording, touring, traveling. The list was endless.

Keith and Laurie did their best to pull the rest of the family into the conversation, but it was obvious who the girls wanted to hear talk and who the boys wanted to hear talk.

"Guess you're chopped liver, huh?" Reuben came up behind Danny who was watching it all with a grin of acceptance on his face.

"Who are you calling chopped liver? At least I got introduced to them. They don't even know who you are." Danny happily pointed out Reuben's flaw in his thinking.

"Oh, who asked you?" Reuben said frustrated that Danny had managed to one up him again.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

_G-day minus 3 – Saturday, March 13_

Saturday morning and afternoon was a slate of interviews again much like Sunday had been. This time, though, Reuben hadn't been able to get a meeting room in the hotel. They'd all been booked. So, the interviews were being held in the family suite.

The day was solidly booked with reporters from every city across the states or so it seemed. The family sat first as a group and then, after Danny, Chris and Tracy had left the room, they had split up into separate areas for individual interviews. Keith, naturally, had the most reporters gathered around at all times, but Shirley and Laurie were popular interviews too. Especially for those publications geared toward women. Not that the women's magazines didn't realize that Keith would sell their publication, they just knew that the women would also want to hear from Shirley and Laurie too.

By the middle of the morning, they took a small break and cleared the room out for the next set to be brought in.

"Is anyone else having as much trouble seeing as I am?" Keith asked as he flopped down on the couch.

"What do you mean?" Shirley smiled at her son who in his dramatic flop to the couch had ended up leaning against Laurie and then wiggled himself into a more comfortable position on her shoulder.

"I'm seeing spots. In fact, I can see your outline, but not your face. It's a blur." Keith said before closing his eyes to rest them.

"That's alright, though, isn't it? At least then you don't have to try to hold back your laughter when you see something green stuck in the teeth of one of your interviewers." Laurie said as she patted Keith's leg as it sat close to hers.

"Hmmmm….you saw that too?" Keith chuckled without opening his eyes.

Shirley giggled and her kids both looked at her. "Sorry, I noticed it too and it just tickled my funny bone."

"Mom, it's not like you to make fun of someone." Laurie said in mock horror.

"Well, just this once." Shirley threw them an impish grin that would have done Danny proud.

"Guess we know where Danny gets it from." Keith couldn't help pointing out.

"Why whatever do you mean?" Shirley feigned innocence.

As the three of them dissolved into laughter, Reuben stuck his head back in the door. "Next wave is on the way up. You ready?"

"Battle stations." Shirley said as she stood up and moved to the chair she had claimed for her interviews.

Keith and Laurie groaned but got up and by the time the reporters began streaming in the door, they all had smiles firmly fixed back on their faces.

During a slight break in questions, Shirley glanced over at her two eldest as they answered question after question. She'd watched in pride the night before as Keith and Laurie had made Wes's neighbor's kids feel comfortable first and then had happily answered all of their questions; deflecting those that were too personal and trying to be as honest as possible with the rest - all without giving away too much information. It was a skill they'd all garnered over the past year. Unfortunately, reporters were much more sophisticated at trying to get you to impart more information than you were willing to. At first, they'd been bitten several times by saying more than they should. Now she watched them handle the interviews with almost practiced ease. It made her smile.

Through trial and error, they'd learned how to handle personal and intrusive questions. Of course, the fans questions were so innocently asked that it was hard sometimes not to tell them everything they wanted to know. However, you needed to be careful or you could easily give them the wrong impression. They'd talked about it as a family often and had quickly become pros at interviews and meet and greets as well as performing on a stage. After all, an interview was just a performance at a different venue.

xoxo

Keith stood under the shower letting the needles of hot water soothe his stiff muscles. Once he was done with his back and shoulders, he was going to let the water soothe his aching facial muscles too. All that talking and smiling had given him a headache to beat the band. He rolled his neck trying to relieve some more tension and heard his upper spine crackle in relief. He sighed with pleasure.

He was just about feeling human again when Danny started pounding on the door. "Hey, hurry up in there. You're not the only one going to the dinner tonight."

Keith sighed again, this time in resignation. His break was over. Time to get back to the hectic schedule he'd committed himself to.

He shut off the water and pulled back the curtain grabbing the towel to dry himself off. The shower had relaxed him enough that he knew if he sat down he would be out like a light.

He swiped at the mirror to clear off a spot to look at his reflection. He looked tired. Well, why shouldn't he. He'd been catching sleep in small chunks for a week now. All in all, he thought he looked pretty good considering his schedule.

He jumped when Danny pounded on the door again. "Coming." He yelled just to get him to stop. He pulled on his robe and opened the door to his glaring brother.

"Geez, Keith. I know it takes you longer than most to get ready, but usually it's blow drying your hair. If you take that long in the shower we don't have a shot at making the dinner in time. We gotta be there in less than an hour." Danny stood there with his hands on his hips glaring at his brother who was toweling his wet hair.

"Stand there glaring at me any longer and you might just get left behind." Keith refused to let Danny get to him.

Danny suddenly realized Keith was right and ran into the bathroom slamming the door behind him. His mother had insisted he take a shower or he would be staying behind. He knew his long hair took just as long to dry as Keith's and Keith had a head start on him. Yikes!

Keith laughed at the look on Danny's face and pulled open the closet. He knew tonight would be relatively informal. In other words, no tuxes. What did that mean he should wear?

He figured his mom and Laurie would wear dresses. Should he wear a suit? No, that seemed too formal. He knew many of the other nominees would be casual. Jeans and a sweater would be just fine.

A half an hour later he stepped out into the suite to find his mother looking stunning in a long dress and perfectly applied make-up.

"Wow! You look great!" Keith walked up behind her and kissed her on the cheek.

"You look wond……Keith! Is that what you're wearing?" Shirley had expected him to wear a suit and tie.

"Yep. I figure there'll be plenty of people more casual than me." Keith shrugged.

"But….oh forget it. You look fine." Shirley agreed that Keith would likely be somewhere in between when it came to all of the attendees.

"Well, how do I look?" Laurie asked as she walked into the room.

"You look just lovely, honey." Shirley smiled at her daughter who was dressed as formally as she was.

"Hmmmm……I'll be the ugly step-sister tonight, won't I?" Keith agreed as he watched Laurie walk toward them.

"Fat chance." Laurie murmured as she looked at her handsome brother who would likely have all the girls' hearts at his feet within moments after arriving. It didn't matter what he wore. He could come in his birthday suit. Well, maybe that was going a bit far. If he came in his birthday suit, he'd have bigger problems than girls throwing themselves at him.

"What was that?" Keith raised an eyebrow at her mumbled words.

"Nothing. Just commenting on your inability to be an ugly step-sister." Laurie added in her head that he would have a very difficult time being considered an ugly anything. "Wrong sex." She clarified.

"Ready!" Danny bounded in the room in his Sunday best and then saw how Keith was dressed. "Hey, aren't you going?"

"Yes, he's going." Shirley assured her middle son.

"Dressed like that?" Danny looked at his brother in envy. He looked very comfortable in jeans and no tie to speak of.

"Yes, dressed like this." Keith assured him.

"I'm changing." Danny said and made to turn around.

Shirley caught him before he could take another step. "No, you're not. We're going to be late. We were supposed to meet Reuben downstairs five minutes ago. The limo should be waiting."

"Awe, mom." Danny complained.

"Sorry, too late. Let's go." Shirley said as she pulled Danny toward the door knowing that Keith and Laurie would follow.

xoxo

They were right on time. Not too early and not the last ones to show up.

The carpeted walkway was lined with photographers and fans. There was a roar of applause every time a limo door was opened that would either build or die slowly depending on who exited.

When they pulled to the curb, Keith got out first and the roar built to a high pitched screaming crescendo that lasted the whole time it took him to hand out his mom and sister with Danny following behind.

Shirley took Danny's arm letting Keith escort Laurie. She preferred that her daughter take center stage tonight with her son. They were the ones the young fans had come out to see. They stopped often to wave and smile and even attempted to talk to a reporter who was working the red carpet though they ended up abandoning the attempt. The screams were just too loud for Keith to hear her question. He smiled apologetically and shrugged causing another wave of screams to build.

Laurie grinned at the poor young woman who looked on in awe. She hadn't seen this reaction in quite some time.

Every time Keith would flash a grin at the fans, the screams would get a little bit louder. Although no one was quite sure how that could happen. Thankfully security was tight and the only thing they were accosted by was flashing bulbs from hundreds of cameras.

The next limo that had pulled up was instructed to wait until the Family had moved into the hotel. They would have been ignored until the very popular young man was out of the picture.

Shirley was also pleasantly surprised to see that Keith had been right. There were people at the dinner who were much more casually dressed than he was. However, most of the women were dressed to the nines. Shirley and Laurie shared a pleased smile to notice that they fit right in with the other women. Well, truthfully, they outshined most of the other women. They were just too pretty a picture; especially side by side.

The dinner was well attended. Not only by the nominees, but by record executives and other Hollywood notables. Keith smiled as he watched Judy Strangis walk by on the arm of some young man. Seeing her brought back his argument with Tina. Boy, wouldn't she just have to eat crow if she'd seen the girl that Keith was supposed to be with, on someone else's arm.

"Almost makes you want to take a picture and send it to her, doesn't it?" Laurie said in Keith's ear making him jump.

"What?" Keith said before realizing that Laurie had figured out exactly what he'd been thinking. "How'd you know what I was thinking?"

"Cause, brother dear, I know YOU." Laurie reminded him. "Besides, even though you denied it, I know that when Tina accused you of two timing her that it hurt. She claimed to know you so well, but she really messed up when she thought you were capable of something that low."

"Thanks." Keith said simply.

"She really is pretty though isn't she?" Laurie had to admit as she watched the petite girl go by.

"Yeah, I was thinking maybe I'd at least try to talk to her later. What do you think?" Keith cocked his head in thought.

'Poor girl doesn't stand a chance' was Laurie's first thought but she didn't want to stroke Keith's ego anymore than it already had been tonight so instead she said, "I don't know. The guy she's with would be pretty strong competition. Don't you think?"

"Sorry, I didn't even notice him." Keith admitted. He'd only seen the beautiful girl, not the guy she was with.

"Figures." Laurie laughed at her brother's myopic vision. Put a pretty girl in front of him and he became oblivious to everything else.

_G-day minus 2 – Sunday, March 14_

Shirley had waved Reuben, Laurie and Keith out of the hotel room before 7 the next morning. They were going to the studio early just as the Producer had suggested. Laurie tagged along at the last minute saying she couldn't wait for the recording to see Keith dancing. Keith reminded her that the script he'd read didn't require him to actually dance. Laurie refused to let it go so easily and the teasing continued into the hallway and likely all the way down the elevator and beyond. Shirley smiled at the antics of her two oldest. They loved to tease each other.

Shirley, her parents and the rest of the kids would be brought over by limo to watch the taping in the afternoon.

Shirley had let the other kids sleep in rather than trying to get them up for church. Normally, even on the road, they tried to attend church, but logistically this time it would be difficult. Their bus was moving their instruments from the recording studio to the Century Plaza Hotel. They'd be rehearsing on Monday and performing in just two short days. They also had another round of interviews stuck in between everything. Shirley was already exhausted just thinking about it.

She sat down to read the Sunday paper that had been waiting outside their hotel room door hoping to catch up on some world events rather than feeling like they were the only news happening.

She'd just started sipping her coffee and reading when her dad joined her.

"Hi dad. Sleep well?" She asked through the steam emanating up from her cup.

"Like a baby. What time did you get back last night?" He asked as he poured his own cup.

"A whole lot later than I'd have hoped; it was after midnight." Shirley frowned in remembrance.

"Why so late? I thought you said you wanted to make it an early night." Fred reminded her.

"I did, but you know how those official dinners go. They served a full seven course meal with pauses to allow you to digest in between." Shirley smiled in memory. The food had melted in her mouth and she and Laurie had had to watch every morsel as it was only another two days before they had to fit into those new dresses.

"Can I have a section?" Fred asked as he sat down next to her.

"Sure. What would you like, the sports?" Shirley asked as she flipped through the sections.

"Yes, that…..and the gossip section." Fred said with a little embarrassment.

"The gossip section. Whatever for?" Shirley asked. It was a section she usually avoided at all costs. Whatever she read there usually only had a fraction of the truth and if she read something about herself or one of her kids it usually just ended up making her mad.

"Just keeping up on the latest gossip about who's favored on Tuesday night." Fred said innocently.

Shirley handed over the sections he'd requested with a raised eyebrow but just went back to reading when he continued to look innocent. She always chuckled at her father's act. He and Danny were so alike. He always had something going on behind his innocent façade. It was usually quite fun to watch; if it wasn't driving her crazy, that is.

"Good morning, Sweetheart." Amanda said as she strolled into the room her nose following the scent of coffee to the carafe.

"Good morning, Mother. You look wonderful." Shirley smiled at her mother.

"I might say the same about you. How do you do it after so little sleep?" Amanda answered the question on Shirley's face without pause. "I heard you come in last night. Later than you planned, hmmm? I thought you wanted Keith to get more sleep."

"That was my plan. But the kids were having such a great time I didn't want to pull them away. They got to meet so many people that they'd only heard of by name before. There were even a couple of people who made me feel like a fan." Shirley said ruefully.

"You are a wonderful human being, you know that?" Amanda reminded her.

"I just wish being a wonderful human being and a good mother could find a happy medium." Shirley laughed. She'd struggled with putting an end to the amazing night while trying to get her kids more sleep. She'd lost all track of time when she'd started talking to Henry Mancini and Frank Sinatra.

"Oh, my." Fred said as he was reading the paper. "No, it can't be."

"What?" Both Shirley and Amanda said at the same time.

"Oh, um, nothing." Fred said as she glanced at them over the paper that he had in front of his face.

"It's not nothing, dear. Come on, spit it out." Amanda directed.

"Well, they don't actually use names." Fred hedged.

"Dad." Shirley said in warning.

"Alright, fine." Fred was just about to start reading when Danny bounded into the room in his robe.

"I'm starving. What's for breakfast?" He said in a loud voice.

"Keep it down. Your brother and sister are still sleeping." Shirley reminded him.

"What, Chris sleeps like a rock; an earthquake couldn't wake him." Danny pointed out but somehow forgot about Tracy.

Shirley just raised an eyebrow and he quietly slinked over to take a seat at the table.

"Dad you were saying?" Shirley glanced back at her father with an inquisitive look.

"Well, it just couldn't be, could it?" Fred posed the question knowing no one could answer it.

"Fred if you don't spit it out, I'll be forced to get up and you won't like the consequences." Amanda said in a half teasing half serious tone.

"Hmmm….how can you be so sure I wouldn't like the consequences." Fred said with a leer at his wife of over 40 years.

"Dad." Shirley gave him a warning look and then glanced at Danny who hadn't missed a thing. He knew exactly what his grandfather had been referring to even though Shirley wished he didn't. He was growing up way too fast for her.

"Sorry, Dear." Fred said and pulled the paper back up in order to read the excerpt that had caused his original comments. "It says here, and I quote, 'Which famous brother and sister duo showed up at the Whiskey A Go-Go a couple of nights ago and performed along with surprise guest Paul McCartney? This writer isn't about to spill the beans, but I will tell you that they performed with the singing legend and also did a couple of their own songs."

"Is that it?" Danny asked.

"Well, it does go on to say that the performance was well received and that the crowd had showed their appreciation with an ovation almost as loud as that given to Mr. McCartney." Fred finished importantly. He thought that last comment meant for sure that the siblings had to be Keith and Laurie.

"Well, it couldn't be who you think it is, the club you're talking about is a drinking establishment. Keith and Laurie couldn't get in." Danny had followed his grandfather's train of thought but nixed it almost immediately knowing that his brother and sister were no where near the 21 years of age they needed to be.

"Oh, right, I hadn't thought of that." Fred felt his bubble slowly deflating. He'd been so proud thinking that two of his grandchildren had been praised so profusely in the paper.

"That's right dad. Keith and Laurie would never be allowed in." Shirley quickly agreed with Danny while deep down inside she wondered. Keith and Laurie had been awfully tired the next morning. But then again, they hadn't been sleeping much since they'd gotten to L.A. But still, Keith had made what she'd been sure was a slip of the tongue at their Today interview. But, thinking back, Laurie had given a plausible reason for his answer.

Shirley couldn't be sure if it was her kids or not. If it wasn't, who could they be referring to?

"Well, if it wasn't Keith and Laurie, who could it have been?" Amanda asked putting Shirley's thoughts into words.

"It was probably Richard and Karen Carpenter." Danny said right away already having given the next most obvious answer.

"Oh, right, that's possible." Grandpa agreed quickly having noticed Shirley's frown building. "And, much more likely than my first thought." He reached over to pat Shirley's hand reassuringly.

"I'd have believed it if it was just Keith going to a club, but Laurie? Miss Goody-two-shoes? No way she'd even consider doing something so bad." Danny said smugly.

Shirley mulled over Danny's words and tended to agree with him. Still, it wouldn't hurt to broach the subject with them at the next earliest opportunity.

While she thought about how to approach the subject, her two youngest finally made an appearance and breakfast became the next topic of discussion pushing her worries temporarily from her mind.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"I'm such a big fan. This is a dream come true being able to meet you." The pretty brunette was practically bouncing as she waited for Keith to sign her copy of their first album.

"I'm glad you like our sound." Keith said with a grin. She was absolutely gorgeous and he wouldn't have thought of trying to push her off even though he'd been on his way to rehearse a singing spot with Mr. Campbell.

"I like more than your sound." The girl said while she ran her eyes up and down his body. Her comment and look made Keith laugh loud enough to draw the attention of most people on the set. He'd been propositioned before, but hers was pretty effective he had to admit.

"Mr. Partridge, we need you on the set." One of the assistants who had been standing close by finally decided to remind their guest star. He'd hated to interrupt, but the girl flirting with him wasn't even one of their regular dancers. She was a fill in because of the short notice and the odd recording day.

Keith rolled his eyes at the use of 'Mr.' – no one called him that. The guy was probably at least five years older than him and he was calling him Mr. Partridge. It was enough to make Keith feel old.

"Excuse me. Maybe we'll get a chance to talk again later." Keith said as he handed her album back to her without ever having had a chance to sign it or ask the pretty girl her name.

"Sure." The girl was obviously disappointed that they'd been interrupted, but she was also smart enough not to push knowing that this opportunity to be a dancer on the show was one she couldn't afford to lose.

Laurie had watched the interaction from her spot to the side of the stage and decided to take pity on the poor girl now that Keith was once again rehearsing.

"Sorry he forgot to sign your album before he got pulled away." Laurie said as she walked up to the girl.

"Oh, that's…. Oh, gosh, you're Laurie Partridge." The girl said in awe once again.

"Right the first time." Laurie teased. "What's your name?"

"Oh, I'm Faith. Faith Wilson. I'm one of the dancers." Faith said quickly looking at the girl who she knew was younger than her yet had such an aura of serenity and confidence that she appeared much older.

"How'd you get to be one of the dancers?" Laurie asked interested because the girl was much shorter than she'd have expected a professional dancer to be.

"Well, I'm just a fill in. With the short notice on the recording date, there were several girls who were out of town. My roommate is one of the regulars. That's her over there. The gorgeous red-head with legs that go on forever. Can you tell I'm jealous?" Faith laughed at her own joke.

"Well, you don't need to be." Laurie said sincerely.

"Thank you. That means a lot coming from you." Faith grinned. "If you're here, why didn't they have the whole family on as a guest?"

"My brother Danny was asking that very question just yesterday." Laurie smiled conspiratorially. "I guess it has to do with my brother's obvious effect on the females of the population – present company included if I don't miss my guess."

"Busted, hmm?" Faith said sheepishly. "He's just so darn cute."

"If you say so." Laurie laughed.

"No, as his sister, I guess you wouldn't see it. He's got that special something. I look at him and just, wow!" Faith fanned herself with her hand.

"That bad, huh?" Laurie just had to laugh as she knew Faith was doing just a little exaggerating. Only a little, though.

"Haven't you noticed all the girls watching him like a hawk? I'm the only one who approached him because I'm not a regular and not as worried about losing my job. This is only temporary and it's not like I'm chancing my income. Though I have to admit for Keith, it just might be worth it. Franny, she's the red-head, my roommate, and I were talking last night about getting the chance to meet Keith. It's pretty sad that two high school graduates are drooling over someone who's not quite 17 yet, isn't it?" Faith blushed as she glanced away realizing what she had said and who she had said it to.

"Oh, don't worry. I won't tell Keith what you told me. I couldn't live with him if he got any more conceited." Laurie joked.

"Really? He didn't come off as stuck up when I talked to him just before." Faith said her disappointment apparent on her face.

"Faith, I was joking. Though I tease him all the time, Keith is pretty down to earth and definitely not stuck up. I was just trying to reassure you that I wouldn't tell him anything we were talking about." Laurie quickly said.

"Well, if he's half as nice as you are, then he couldn't be stuck up." Faith smiled at Laurie knowing that if they had lived in the same town they'd have been friends. "Hey, I have an idea."

"What's that?" Laurie smiled back at the girl who was being so nice to her.

"Well, Franny's parents are really quite wealthy and she's staying in their 'winter' home on the beach while she tries to make it in show business. I live with her though I couldn't afford to even rent an inch in that neighborhood if it weren't for Franny. Anyway, we're having a beach party after the taping tonight. Why don't you and Keith come?" Faith knew that she and Franny had had no such plans, but under these circumstances, quick thinking was required. Neither Franny nor Faith would have forgiven themselves if they'd have missed out on the chance to get to know Keith better. And, having met Laurie, Faith knew she wouldn't mind getting to know her better too. Two birds with one stone – or two Partridges with one beach party in this case. It sounded good to her and she was pretty sure Franny would go for it too.

"I don't know Faith. It sounds like a whole lot of fun, but we're booked really tight. I know that Keith has several radio interviews tomorrow and then there's the rehearsal for the awards show in the evening." Laurie hedged knowing that she really wanted to go and that Keith would likely enjoy himself too. Would they have the time? Could they make the time for a little fun?

"Oh, I understand. I'm sorry. I know it was short notice and all. I had just thought…." Faith let her words trail off. It had been worth a shot, right?

"No, I'm the one who's sorry. I'm just not sure. I could ask Reuben, he's our manager, and see if we could squeeze in a couple of hours." Laurie thought about how to broach the subject with Reuben to get him to agree. It would be heaven to spend a few hours at the beach just hearing the waves crashing onto the shore. She loved the soothing sound.

"Well, why don't you go and check. I'll wait." Faith crossed her fingers behind her back. 'Go Laurie!' she cheered in her head as she watched her walk away.

"What's that devious look on your face all about?" Franny asked as she came up behind Faith.

"Oh!" Faith jumped almost a foot off the floor. "You surprised me. Recognize her?"

Franny's eyes followed Laurie away as she approached a blond man in a business suit. "Looks a little bit like Laurie Partridge."

"Looks a whole lot like Laurie Partridge, because it is." Faith grinned at her roommate. "And, she's going to see if she and Keith can come to our beach party."

"What beach party?" Franny frowned.

"The one we're going to pull together in record time so that we can spend some quality time with that…" Faith motioned to Keith who was laughing with Glen Campbell on the other side of the set. "….gorgeous male specimen."

"You mean, the walking, talking, sex on a stick, make me drool, Keith Partridge?" Franny quickly caught on to Faith's plan.

Faith laughed at Franny's phrasing but couldn't find any fault in the apt description. "We'll very discretely invite your friends from the show and at lunch break we'll make a few phone calls. You in?"

"You bet I am. My first call will be to Matt. He'll be only too happy to pull together the food and beverages for us." Franny grinned. "Faith you are a genius."

"No genius. Just an opportunistic girl who is completely infatuated with Mr. Sex on a Stick." Faith couldn't hold in her giddy giggle.

xoxo

Faith and Franny were able to plan the beach party without interference from either Keith or Laurie. When they found out that there were hundreds of fans who had showed up who weren't going to be able to get in for the taping of the show, they made a trip outside to sign autographs and take pictures. It meant they had almost no time to eat, but when it was a choice of food or making the fans happy, Keith and Laurie would always choose to make the fans happy.

The crowd was surprisingly calm considering it could have gotten ugly, but it helped that Keith and Laurie spent almost an hour signing, taking pictures and chatting with the large group. There were still disappointed people, but most of them had at least gotten an autograph.

The taping was just minutes from starting when a frazzled looking Shirley and the rest of the family finally showed up.

"Shirley…." Reuben started but paused at Shirley's cross look. She was never cross. Well, almost never.

"Don't ask Reuben. The limo was late, the traffic was backed up and I cannot tell you how happy I am to finally be here. Just give me a minute." Shirley smiled a tense smile by the end of her short tirade that made Reuben realize her mood would be short lived.

"Come right this way. You have front row seats. Keith's going to be great if rehearsal is any indication." Reuben shepherded them to their seats and made sure they were comfortable before once again going off to find Keith. He would eventually take his place just off camera to make sure he was available should Keith need him for anything. After all, what was a manager for, if not to make sure his star had everything he needed? Not that Keith had made any requests, but just in case.

Seconds before shooting was to start, Laurie finally showed up and took a seat next to her mother grinning like a fool.

"Oh, Mom, you are going to be so proud. The show is going to be sooo good." Laurie grabbed her mom's hand and squeezed. At her look of concern Laurie knew exactly what her mother was thinking and quickly continued. "He's a little nervous but nothing out of the ordinary. He's always a little keyed up before a performance."

"I had wanted to get here early enough to see for myself, but the ride over - well, let's just say things didn't work out as planned." Shirley smiled warmly and squeezed Laurie's hand back. She trusted her daughter to tell her the truth and could relax knowing that Keith would be fine.

"We figured something had gone wrong. Keith knew you'd have wished him luck if you could. Reuben just told us you'd finally arrived. Keith would have come out himself, but he knew the rest of the audience was already here and he didn't want to make a scene. It sounds like your arrival did that all on its own." Laurie said as she realized the crowd was buzzing at the newest arrivals.

The family was slightly separated from the rest of the main audience so, though they could gape and talk, the audience couldn't reach them. Security personnel stood discretely around the audience who had been given strict instructions about what would be allowed and what wouldn't be allowed.

The security group was well aware of the average age of the audience and who their guest star was for that taping. It was their job to keep all of the audience members in the seating area and away from the talent. They were exceptionally good at their jobs. No one expected any snafus.

As the house lights dimmed, Glen Campbell finally made an appearance, and before the cameras began to roll, he did a quick meet and greet with the crowd. Once that was over and the audience instructions were once again being given by the stage manager, Mr. Campbell came over to meet the rest of the family.

He chatted for about five minutes when he was given the signal that the show was about to begin. He excused himself, went to his mark on the stage and introduced his special guest star who started the show off with a montage of the Family's hits.

The anticipation before Keith walked onto the stage was palpable, but as soon as the stage lights caught him, a scream could be heard and Keith couldn't hold back a small grin of appreciation.

He stopped grinning only when he began to sing.

The taping continued without the pauses that one would expect for commercials as those would be put in later. They did pause to change sets and to change costumes, but the taping time just flew. The family clapped and cheered right along with the rest of the fans in the stands.

The show was sure to be a hit!

xoxo

Taping had been over for a good fifteen minutes, though the crowd had hung around hoping Keith would come out and meet up with his family. The kids had all gone over and signed a few autographs right after the taping had stopped, but were once again milling around Shirley and her parents when Keith finally made an appearance having taken the time to remove his stage make-up.

The crowd screamed as soon as they saw him. He waved, but kept heading toward his family. He wanted to know what they thought of his performance.

"Hi, mom." Keith said as he pulled her in for a hug. "Well?"

"You were wonderful. Really great!" Shirley beamed at him as she pulled back from the hug.

"Really?" Keith appeared to need more reassurance, so the rest of his family pressed in and gave it to him. Words like groovy, awesome and fantastic were all used by someone.

"Keith, did you want to take a few minutes to sign some autographs?" The stage hand who had finally been talked into calling him Keith rather than Mr. Partridge had hated to interrupt, but the audience had been so patient and well behaved.

"Sure, Hank. How do you want to do this?" Keith knew that he couldn't just walk over there or they'd likely push and shove to get to the front of the line.

"We set up a small table and let them file by. Works pretty well usually." Hank waved his arm toward a table that Keith hadn't noticed before.

"Alright, let's do it." Keith was just about to walk away when Laurie grabbed his arm.

"Hey, what about Faith and Franny's beach party?" She said quietly. She'd told him about it just before the taping and he'd been excited about going. They'd agreed to ask their mom together, but now he was being pulled away.

"Think you can handle it on your own?" Keith said apologetically.

"If I must." Laurie said dramatically, but grinned her reassurance that she could handle it. "Just wanted to make sure you still wanted to go. You know, that you weren't too tired."

"No, a little time in the ocean sounds really great right now." Keith's smile looked a little tired, but his words were exactly what Laurie expected him to say.

"Ok, take care of your fans. We'll wait for you." Laurie kissed him on the cheek as he walked away.

While Keith was gone, Laurie asked her mom if they could go. She wanted to meet Faith and Franny but once that was done, she agreed so long as they made sure it wasn't going to be a long night. Neither Faith nor Franny was 21 yet either, so they assured her that there would be no drinking which put to rest another worry for Shirley.

"Where is this party?" Shirley asked.

"At my parent's beach house. It's only 15 minutes from the studio." Franny supplied helpfully.

"How will you get there and back?" Shirley asked.

"Oh, I hadn't thought of that." Laurie frowned. Sure, her mom was all set to agree that they could go and they'd likely be submarined by lack of wheels. Laurie put on one of her best 'oh please' looks and turned to Reuben. "Maybe Reuben would let us use his car?"

"For what?" Reuben had just walked up so wasn't aware of the rest of the conversation.

"For Keith and Laurie to attend a beach party." Shirley wouldn't have minded if Reuben had declined, but knew that he likely wouldn't. He trusted Keith with his car and as they had no other plans for the evening, he'd probably agree.

"Oh, sure. That's no problem. Just tell him to be careful." He said not really worried but feeling compelled to say the words.

"Thanks Reuben." Laurie kissed him on the cheek in appreciation. "We'll be home early. I promise."

"What's early?" Danny said jealous that he wouldn't be able to go along. He'd thought of asking, but he knew he'd be denied and it would be embarrassing to be told 'no' in front of the two good looking girls waiting hopefully for a 'yes' answer themselves.

Shirley just raised her eyebrow at Laurie agreeing that is was a question that needed to be answered.

"Midnight?" Laurie would have started with a later time, but she knew that Keith had early interviews tomorrow. As it was midnight wouldn't give him more than 5 hours of sleep again.

"And not a minute later." Shirley reluctantly agreed. She'd have said ten, but it was already after 4:00 and she knew that they still hadn't left the studio. They'd have almost no time at the party if they left much earlier than that.

"Deal." Laurie beamed her thanks. She turned to Faith and Franny. "What time should we be there?"

"Why don't you just follow us home?" Franny suggested.

"Oh, but we need to go back to the hotel to get our swimsuits." Laurie frowned.

"No, we'll have something at the house that will fit. You're my size and Keith will be able to borrow one of the suits my brother always leaves behind." Franny suggested not wanting to miss a minute of time with Keith.

"Oh, that would be great. Alright with you, mom?" Laurie checked one more time with her mom.

"If you're sure." Shirley waited for Franny to nod that she was certain. "In that case, have fun."

Shirley didn't remember until they were driving back to the hotel in the limo that she'd meant to ask Laurie and/or Keith whether or not the story in the paper had been about them or the Carpenters. She made a mental note to ask the next day.

xoxo

While Laurie waited for Keith to finish signing the last of the autographs for the surprisingly well behaved crowd exiting the studio, she was literally almost knocked over by a female who was talking over her shoulder rather than watching where she was going.

"Oh, excuse me. I'm so sorry." The blonde said as she reached out to grab the person she'd run into. "Oh, Laurie, it's nice to see you again."

"Aimee?" Laurie said as she caught her balance. It had only been a glancing blow that she could have avoided if she'd seen her coming. "What are you doing here?"

"Another story on one of the Partridges." Aimee admitted sheepishly. "Though I wasn't able to get an interview with Keith, I was sent over to talk to the fans. Those that got in and those that didn't."

"So, you couldn't get an interview with Keith? Who did you ask?" Laurie was surprised to hear that Aimee hadn't been granted access to Keith.

"That's just it. This appearance was so sudden, I never did get through to your manager. My editor sent me down here anyway. I guess she was hopeful." Aimee shrugged.

"Hey, tell you what, Keith and I are going to this beach party as soon as he's done. Why don't you tag along? Kind of a 'Keith at play' piece." Laurie suggested and then almost immediately regretted her words. What if Keith didn't want a reporter along while he was supposed to be having fun?

Aimee saw the regret cross Laurie's face as soon as she'd said the words. "Hey, no, that's alright. You both deserve some down time. I don't want either of you to feel like you have to be 'on' while you're supposed to be having fun."

Laurie's relief was evident and Aimee didn't blame her. She'd only met Keith for a short time and would have loved to spend more time with him, but not at the expense of feeling like a third wheel. In fact, she'd have loved to go to the party just as Aimee the person not Aimee the reporter. That would be a much better scenario in her opinion.

"Aimee?" Faith had spotted someone talking to Laurie. She'd been heading over to see how much longer she'd thought they'd be when she'd spotted an old friend of her older sister.

"Faith? What are you doing here?" Aimee said as she watched the younger very exotic looking girl walk up.

"Sub-dancer for the day. Guess those years of ballet paid off, hmmm?" Faith joked. "What are you doing here?"

"Crowd reaction on the man of the hour." Aimee said as she gestured toward Keith who was still charming the slowly dwindling group of fans.

"Ahhh….So, you still on the clock?" Faith asked suspiciously.

"Nope as of three minutes ago, I am finally through working for the week. I don't have to start again until….well, 8:00 tomorrow morning." Aimee winced at the thought of how little time off she'd had that weekend.

"Well, if you promise to leave your reporter instincts in the car, we're having a beach party tonight." Faith said impulsively. She'd always liked her sister's friend and she'd always lived by the phrase 'the more the merrier'. Though, when it came to Keith Partridge, she probably should have left that idea at the door. She'd much rather spend time alone with him, but it was already too late to take back the question.

"Really? You're sure?" Aimee would love the chance to let her hair down for a few hours.

"Absolutely." Faith said with just a little less enthusiasm than her original invitation. Now that she looked more closely, Aimee was way too pretty. The last thing she needed was more competition for Keith's attention. Oh well, too late now.

"In that case, the reporter's hat has been officially blown off in the breeze. One small problem – I came over here with my photographer. I don't have any wheels." Aimee winced in memory.

"No problem. You can ride with me and Keith. He won't mind, I'm sure." Laurie's natural kindness came to the fore.

"That'd be great!" Aimee agreed quickly.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Aimee rode in Reuben's car with Laurie and Keith. Laurie sat in the middle as neither wanted to sit in the back seat and have their hair messed up and Keith refused to put up the top. 'It was too nice a day to worry about hair', had been his excuse.

The conversation centered around what it was like to live in L.A. Aimee had moved here to attend UCLA and decided to stay when she'd gotten an internship and then a job offer from the teen magazine she currently worked for. She told them about all of the best places to eat and shop on a budget; where the regular people of L.A. lived and breathed. The places not inundated with tourists.

She offered to show Laurie a bunch of the fun shops that sold clothes for regular prices; not the inflated prices on Rodeo Drive. The places Laurie would normally have shopped if not looking for a dress for an awards ceremony.

The next several miles were filled with talk of the latest fashions. Keith smiled and let the girls fill the space with conversation. He sat back, watched the car in front of him and enjoyed the scenery. He loved the coast.

By the time they got to the beach house, there was only about an hour of daylight left. So, Keith, Laurie and Aimee quickly donned their borrowed swim suits and headed out to do some snorkeling. Faith and Franny quickly agreed to join them.

As the sun was beginning to flirt with the horizon, the girls all surfaced to talk about heading in.

"Where's Keith?" Faith asked as she looked around for the breathing tube sticking up through the surface of the water.

"He's probably diving deep for a closer look at something." Laurie told her. "He's part fish. He loves the water."

"How can he have any energy left after the long day's taping?" Franny asked as she felt the muscles in her legs protest the added activity of propelling her through the water.

"Oh, it'll hit him sometime tonight. So long as he keeps going, though, he'll never admit he's tired." Laurie said as she saw him surface about 50 feet away from the group.

"Well, we should head in before it goes completely dark out here. Besides, the rest of our party should have arrived and are probably wondering where we are." Faith suggested. "I'll just go and tell Keith."

The rest of them agreed to her suggestion and headed back toward the shore while Faith waved to Keith and swam toward him.

"Hey, Keith, we're all heading in before it becomes too dark. Ready to go?" Faith said as she treaded water next to Keith.

"I guess we better." Keith said as he watched the sun begin its decent below the horizon causing a beautiful array of reds, oranges and eventually violets to light the sky.

Keith removed his snorkel and mask, dunking below the water one more time to push his hair out of his face. Faith watched him and sighed as she realized that a wet Keith was somehow even sexier than a dry Keith.

"Something wrong?" Keith asked as he watched Faith's look turn dreamy.

"What?" Faith pulled herself back to reality quickly. "No, nothing's wrong. Just a slight cramp." She quickly fibbed.

"Need any help?" Keith swam closer in concern.

"No, just stay close in case it gets worse." Faith didn't want to overdue it because she really didn't have a cramp. But, she wasn't above using the fake situation to her advantage.

"I'm not going anywhere." Keith assured her hoping to keep her calm. He'd seen people cramp up and panic. It wasn't pretty.

When they began to walk out of the breaking waves, they glanced up to see that a growing crowd of people were walking around a nice sized bonfire on the beach. Faith watched Keith's attention get pulled away from her and decided to pull it back. She let the next wave push her into Keith and pretended to lose her balance completely.

Just as she'd hoped, Keith quickly caught her by pulling her tightly against his side. "Woah, there, I've got you."

"Thanks." Faith felt the strap of her swimsuit top cooperate by sliding down her arm. She let the next wave knock her more tightly against Keith and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and waist.

She waited breathlessly as she watched him check out her dipping bathing suit and then watched his eyes pause on her parted lips. She slowly licked her upper lip in anticipation of the hoped for kiss and watched his eyes follow the action. She felt her heart rate kick up the pace.

"Keith, you coming?" Laurie yelled from up on the beach.

Her words broke the moment and Keith gently set Faith back on her own two feet, lifted the sagging bikini strap and grabbing her hand pulled Faith from the waves.

Faith reluctantly followed a pout forming on her lips that were still begging to be kissed. She'd have to try again later.

Laurie and Aimee watched Faith's reaction to the interruption with a shared grin. Laurie knew exactly what she'd done and had done it on purpose. Aimee, on the other hand, could understand Faith's frustration. She knew she was too old for Keith, but it didn't stop her from appreciating his pull on the opposite sex or the enjoyment she would get from watching all the younger girls throw themselves at him. There had to be a story in there somewhere, didn't there? Oh well, she'd promised not to attend the party as a reporter, but she could certainly continue to watch with interest.

As the girls took turns showering in the two upstairs bathrooms, Keith showered in the guest bathroom downstairs. The girls had never gotten ready so fast in their lives. They didn't want to miss a minute that Keith was in their little universe.

Keith knew he should feel tired, but the swim and the shower had reinvigorated him. He joined the party before any of the girls and introduced himself to the first person he walked up to. His name was Matt and he appeared to be in charge of the grill. Keith offered to help.

He and Matt had been talking about the surfing in the area when Franny, the first to finish, strolled up.

"Hey, Keith, did you enjoy the snorkeling?" She said as she slid in right next to him. She was secretly glad that she'd decided to go barefoot as she noticed Keith had decided to go sans shoes as well. Without shoes, she was able to look Keith square in the eyes, but at least she didn't tower over him like she sometimes could when she wore her usual three or four inch heels. Sometimes she cursed her long legs, but not often. She knew most men appreciated the fact that her legs seemed to go on forever and with all the dancing she did, she knew they were one of her best assets. She always wore very short shorts to accent them and tonight was no different.

"It was great, but Matt was telling me that the surfing around here can be even better." Keith's eyes trailed down Franny's curvaceous legs. He was pretty sure he'd never seen legs quite so toned or tanned before.

"It can be, but today was much too calm. You surf?" Franny shifted in hopes of drawing Keith's eyes back to her legs.

"Not often, but I do whenever I get the chance. We're so busy now, there's not often a free weekend to head to the beach." Keith admitted with candor. He didn't often regret his busy schedule, but when someone reminded him of some of the more enjoyable pursuits he'd had to give up it could make him a little nostalgic.

"That's too bad. How long are you in town? You're welcome to come back and hit the waves any time." Franny quickly offered.

"I'll remember that, thanks." Keith smiled knowing that he likely wouldn't get the chance while they were in town this time.

Aimee walked out of the house and immediately found Keith in the crowd. It was easy to do; all the girls were looking that way. She noticed that Faith's roommate had taken up a spot right next to him and did not look like she planned to give it up any time soon. Aimee headed toward the cooler and grabbed a can of something cold to drink and then leaned back against the deck railing to watch the night progress.

"Where did you get that?" Laurie asked as she walked up beside Aimee and nodded at her drink.

"In the cooler, want one?" Aimee bent over to retrieve one at Laurie's nod. "He has no idea that he's the center of attention does he?"

Laurie glanced to see that Aimee was watching Keith laugh at something Matt or Franny had said. "Oh, he knows."

"Well, he sure doesn't act like he's being watched like a hawk." Aimee said in awe.

"He's used to it, I guess." Laurie shrugged. "He's actually a little more tense than he usually is. You can see it if you watch really closely."

"Oh, I don't see it." Aimee glanced at the sister who knew him so well.

"Watch his facial expressions, they're slightly self-conscious. When he's relaxed, like when he's just around the family, you can read every emotion on his face. He's very open; but not now." Laurie kept her voice low as she pointed out the subtleties to Aimee.

"I think I see what you mean. He was more relaxed when he was talking to your mom at the hotel a few days ago. I remember a slight change as soon as your mom introduced me." Aimee looked back with a clearer vision on that earlier day.

"No one would ever guess that what Franny is doing to attract Keith's attention isn't really working." Laurie watched Aimee raise her brows in question. "Oh, don't get me wrong; he thinks she's very attractive. It's just that she's overdoing it. She's laying it on too thick and he knows it. He sees right through her."

"This is fascinating. It's like watching a movie and having the actor next to you telling you their motivation." Aimee smiled conspiratorially at Laurie. She noticed Laurie's frown at her words. "Oh, don't worry. I promised I wasn't here as a reporter. None of this will ever be printed, but I have to tell you that I'm enjoying the hell out of this inside look. You two know each other really well."

"You could say that. We're the closest in age and Danny didn't come along for almost 5 years, so we've grown up with many of the same friends and, of course, an interest in music. Though my interest isn't nearly as rabid as Keith's." Laurie joked.

"Rabid, hmm?" Aimee laughed at Laurie's choice of words.

"He lives and breathes it. I'd be willing to bet you that either lyrics or music are being written inside his head while he's carrying on a conversation. I'm a little surprised he didn't bring one of his guitars along tonight. He's usually never without one." Laurie laughed at her slight exaggeration.

"That bad?" Aimee questioned.

"Almost. We tease him about it all the time. He's such a dichotomy. For instance, he's a perfectionist when it comes to himself, yet he's so patient with the younger kids while they learn to play his new songs." Laurie gave Aimee another insight into the family make-up.

"Wow, he sounds almost too good to be true." Aimee watched Keith glance around the party a little tensely and then relax as soon as he spotted Laurie. It was as if he was worried about her until he'd spotted her. A show of brotherly concern? Probably.

Laurie nodded as she caught Keith's eyes on her. He nodded back and then glanced again at Aimee. He frowned slightly, probably wondering what they were talking about and whether or not it would show up in print. Aimee threw him her own smile and noticed Franny frown behind him. The girl was probably mad that her legs hadn't held Keith's attention and that he was looking around the party.

She watched Keith excuse himself from Matt and Franny and head toward she and Laurie; Franny now even more obviously upset that Keith had walked away from her. Aimee kept herself from grinning more broadly. This night was going to be a blast to watch unfold. Who would Keith end up with? Would he make a play for any of the girls here? Was he already dating someone back home? Would there be a fight if he chose one girl over another?

Her reporter radar was bleeping like crazy but she'd promised the brother and sister duo that she wasn't here as a reporter. She sighed quietly and reined in her wayward desire to grab a pen and paper and record all of this for posterity.

She knew darn well her editor would kill for the inside scoop she'd so innocently gotten from Laurie on the current reigning heartthrob.

But a promise was a promise, right? The only way she'd ever go back on it was if she received explicit agreements from her subjects.

'Aimee, knock it off. You'll ruin the night if you keep thinking what if… just watch and learn' she instructed herself. If she couldn't print it that didn't make it any less interesting, right?

xoxo

It was slightly after midnight and they were cruising down the freeway. As soon as they'd gotten in the car, Laurie had slid low in the seat and rested her head against the seat. Within minutes, she was fast asleep; her head finding a natural resting place on her brother's shoulder.

"This is the exit." Aimee motioned toward the sign that marked the boulevard that housed her apartment building. She'd begged off on accepting a ride home from Keith and Laurie when she realized that her apartment was pretty far away from the hotel and would get them back later than they'd promised their mother they'd be home. She hadn't been surprised when both Keith and Laurie had assured her that it wouldn't matter and that they would be only too happy to see her home.

Aimee had relaxed back into the seat herself after Laurie had fallen asleep. She began to replay the rest of the party in her head. Her memories brought a smile.

She'd spent the night meeting lots of new people and enjoying herself immensely. After all, as a reporter, she was most definitely a people person. She loved to use her powers of observation at parties where she knew so few people. But, she had to admit, the most fun she'd had all night was keeping tabs on Keith and his revolving door of girls.

It had started with Franny and the merry-go-round hadn't stopped until Keith and Laurie had announced that they needed to leave. They'd attempted to make their exit very quietly, but one of Keith's more boisterous new acquaintances had proceeded to beg rather loudly that they stay for a while longer.

It had been humorous to watch the pleasant masks drop down over Keith's and Laurie's faces as they'd patiently pushed off all of the requests for them to stay. They sure had developed a knack for dealing with overzealous fans.

As Keith took the exit ramp, Aimee pulled herself back to the present to give him directions right to her doorstep.

"Don't bother walking me to the door." Aimee said as soon as Keith reached for the ignition. She somehow just knew that good manners had been inbred in the young man. "You'll have to wake Laurie to do it."

"That's alright. She got plenty of sleep last night." Keith smiled as he turned off the ignition with a flip of his wrist.

"No, really. Don't. Please. You've both been so nice to me tonight. I'd hate to inconvenience you any more than I already have. You really should have just let me call a cab." Aimee turned in her seat to look Keith in the eyes over his sister's sleeping head. She wanted him to see her sincerity.

"That would have cost a fortune and you know it." Keith reminded her. He'd driven at least 30 miles from the beach house.

"True, but the relaxation of tonight would have been worth it. It's been a long week; this lead up to the Grammy's. And, if I think it's been bad, you must be exhausted already and the awards aren't for two nights." Aimee didn't mind stretching out their good-byes.

"Considering it's after midnight, the awards are technically tomorrow night." Keith caught Aimee's eye roll and grinned. "Sorry, that comes from spending too much time with Danny. He loves to point out the little subtleties and I sometimes find myself doing it first."

"I wish I'd had a chance to talk to him." Aimee had heard several comments about Danny from either Keith or Laurie throughout the night and knew he was quite the character.

"No you don't." Keith laughed quietly. "But, he'd have loved talking to you. You're a reporter and he loves reporters. Pretty reporters even more."

"Thanks, I think." Aimee laughed along with him.

"You sure you don't want me to walk you to your apartment? It's pretty dark out here." Keith looked around and didn't see anyone, but you just never knew.

"No, really, you'd end up leaving Laurie in the car by herself. Besides, I've got my mace if I need it." Aimee pulled out her trusty can of self-defense.

"What, are you a former girl scout?" As Aimee raised an eyebrow in question, Keith continued with a grin, "Always prepared."

"I'd like to think so." Aimee laughed again. Keith was such a nice kid. And, she needed to keep reminding herself of that. He wasn't even 17 yet and she was already 22. Her traitorous heart rate kept kicking up when he would smile at her. She firmly pulled her raging hormones back under control and reached out for the car door. "Hey, I almost forgot, good luck 'tomorrow' night."

She'd put emphasis on the word 'tomorrow' to remind him of his earlier comment. Keith laughed at her playfulness. "Thanks, I appreciate the thought."

"Well, if talent doesn't win it for you, niceness should." Aimee reasoned.

Keith winced at the description of himself. No one wanted to be thought of as 'nice'. "Gee, golly, thanks." Keith overplayed it for laughs.

"Alright, sorry that wasn't the best choice of words. But, the first part was true. You should win. You have the talent." Aimee tried again but this time left off the words he'd found offensive.

"In that case, a more genuine 'thank you' is required. I appreciate it." Keith smiled very genuinely and Aimee's heart rate jumped off the scales one more time. It was a darn good thing Laurie was still asleep between the two of them or who knew what she'd have done. Probably thrown herself at him full force and not come up for air for quite some time.

That thought brought her mind back to a question that had been burning in her reporter mind all night. She'd fought like crazy to keep it in, but she must be overly tired because all of a sudden she found herself asking it anyway. "So, Keith, I just have to know – how come you didn't hook up with any of the numerous girls who threw themselves at you tonight? Don't tell me none of them were good enough for you?"

"Ouch! You really think that badly of me?" Keith winced at her possible explanation for why he hadn't taken any of the girls up on their subtle and not so subtle passes all night.

"Well? What other explanation could there be?" Aimee searched her mind for why he wouldn't have taken advantage of such a great opportunity. An opportunity that any other male she'd ever met would have died to be given.

"Actually, I sort of have a girlfriend back home. It would have been like cheating on her if I had." Keith said quietly, not sure if he should be telling her this or not.

"Really? That's it?" Aimee continued at Keith's confused look. "It's just that, well, most guys I've known would have figured they were far enough away from the other girlfriend and what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her."

"Sounds to me like you're speaking from experience." Keith pointed out.

"No, well…." Aimee's vague answer was the only confirmation Keith needed. He knew she'd been hurt by someone who'd given her the impression that they were exclusive.

"Look, the guy who cheated on you was a jerk, but we're not all like that. Carol and I have only been on one date, but she told me that she'd wait for another one when I got back and that she trusted me. How could I betray that trust?" Keith tried to explain. "Besides, none of those girls tonight even knew me well enough to know whether or not they liked me. They just wanted to spend some time with Keith Partridge the Grammy nominee. Not Keith Partridge the high school student. And, next week, that's who I'll be again."

"How did you get to be so smart?" Aimee also wondered how he'd gotten to be so mature. Maybe 5 years wasn't so far apart in age. He was more mature than most guys her age that she'd met and certainly more down to earth than the other celebrities she'd had the opportunity to meet at interviews.

"I guess my mom raised me right. She's really amazing. And, we have a great manager who's been good enough to sit me down several times to help me keep my head on straight when it might have been turned by certain types of people." Keith listed the two most influential people in his life. His mother for all the almost 17 years of his life; but also the man who, though only around for the last year or so, was still a huge influence on his professional decisions.

"Keith Partridge, no matter what happens; whether you win or lose at the Grammy's, don't change. Not one iota. You are just about the most amazing person I've ever met. Your family is the most amazing family I've ever met." Aimee quickly opened the door and walked swiftly away from the car. She was close to either bursting into tears at the perfect man she was about to let out of her life or she was about to grab him, pull him up to her apartment and never see humanity again. Because, once she had him, she wasn't letting him go, nor was she sharing him.

"Boy, you sure had her snowed." Laurie didn't raise her head until she was sure Aimee was far away from the car.

"You were listening?" Keith pushed Laurie away in mock disgust at her eavesdropping.

"Well, I was right here. What, you didn't expect me to hear?" Laurie fake punched Keith as she pushed herself closer to the passenger door.

"You could have let us know you were awake." Keith pointed out as he reached for the key to start the car.

"And miss out on the master schmoozer? Danny would have been impressed." Laurie continued to tease.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I was not schmoozing her." Keith feigned hurt.

"Well, all I know is that you have another heart to add to your collection." Laurie couldn't help but laugh at Keith's injured look.

"I don't keep a collection of hearts." Keith turned serious at her words. He didn't ask for girls to fall in love with him. It just happened. In fact, he'd prefer that they didn't – at least not until they got to know him.

"You may not intend to, brother dear, but you do none the less." Laurie finally realized he'd gotten quiet and introspective. "Hey, I didn't mean anything by it. She'll survive, you know."

"You mean she won't pine away for me and give up on living just because she can't have me?" Keith decided to take it back to the joking level. He worried sometimes about people who fell in love with their idols and might never even meet them. Most of the time it was innocent and normal, but sometimes…..well, those sometimes would occasionally cause him to worry about whose heart he might be breaking without even realizing it. Everything he did was reported in the magazines and sometimes his choices weren't the smartest choices and someone was hurt by them even though they were hundreds of miles away. The thought was daunting at times.

He tried to keep those thoughts from his mind as much as possible. He couldn't help how people reacted to his fame. That didn't stop him from wondering….

"Hey, Keith, you waiting for a special color green?" Laurie pulled Keith from his reverie by pointing out that the stoplight was telling him to go. "Or, are you falling asleep? Want me to drive?"

"No, I really want to live long enough to find out whether or not we win the award." Keith joked back as he accelerated.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

_G-day minus 1 – Monday, March 15_

He should have followed his first inclination and just pulled the covers over his head when his mother had woken him up two hours ago. But no, he couldn't let his mom believe he'd over booked himself this week and was running out of gas. Instead he'd loaded up on coffee and now he was practically dancing in place waiting to be let in the radio station so he could find the nearest men's room.

The receptionist had recognized him right away, so that wasn't the problem. But, instead of buzzing them right in, she said she had to find Natalie who would show them around. The only place he wanted to see was the men's room!

Laurie had come along for something to do for the morning. She and mom had appointments with their 'personal designers' (whatever that was) later in the day, so she decided that tagging along on Keith's interviews at a couple of local radio stations would be fun. So far, she was having fun – laughing at Keith!

"It can't possibly be that bad." Laurie whispered in Keith's ear as he held back a groan.

Keith just threw her a dirty look and stared at the locked door, willing it to open.

"Hmmmm, that painting on the wall, the one with all the water, makes me think of a trickling stream….or, no, more of a rushing waterfall." As her words caused Keith to squirm even more, she added with a laugh. "You know, on the order of, oh say, Niagara Falls."

"Laurie if you want to live long enough to get your hair done and whatever else you'll be doing today, I suggest you put a sock in it." Keith said with feeling as the door finally opened. He just barely suppressed the urge to push by and explain later.

"Hi, I'm Natalie. I am so pleased to meet you." She gushed as she shook Keith's hand and then glanced around once she could pull her eyes away, finally noticing Laurie and Reuben. "Oh, how wonderful, I see you've brought your sister and you must be Mr. Kincaid, his manager."

"That's right. Sorry we're a little late, but the traffic was worse than I'd expected. Something about a big pile-up on the 101." Reuben shook her hand and tried to explain why they were all of 3 minutes late.

"It's not a problem. Do you need anything before I take you back to the show?" Natalie's eyes had already returned to Keith. She was only a couple of years older. She was the very lucky intern who was only too happy to escort the talent around the studio. Well, to be honest, she wasn't always happy about it, but this time, it was Keith Partridge and she was such a big fan. He was just so cute!

"A restroom?" Keith kept it short and sweet.

"Sure, right this way." Natalie smiled and preceded him back through the door.

"His kingdom for a commode." Laurie said in an aside to Reuben which finally brought a smile to the frazzled manager.

Reuben had left Laurie standing in the hallway outside the men's room to talk to the station manager. Laurie was leaning against the wall glancing around curiously. She'd been in a few radio stations before, but it was always interesting. She had to smile at the old adage – a face for radio. It was often true. The radio personalities had such interesting voices, but their faces were often not conducive to television and thus the switch to radio rather than TV news shows or the like.

She had just seen a man walk by whose scraggly hair and unkempt beard would have had her believing he was a homeless man. Natalie had set her straight when she noticed her look. "He's the late night DJ, Alan Johnson." At Laurie's grin Natalie continued, "He's cleaner than usual today."

The girls were sharing a giggle when Natalie got called away. "I'll be right back." She promised as she headed down the hall and around the corner.

Laurie hadn't been standing there for 15 second after Natalie had disappeared before she heard someone behind her. "Well, well, well, what have we here? Must be my lucky day."

Laurie spun around to see a middle aged man with an ill-fitting toupee approaching her with a leering look.

"Hello." Laurie said politely but coldly.

"Oh, now pretty young thing - don't get your back up before you've given me a chance. I'm Pete. You know, one of the morning DJ's. The ones that make the big bucks and pull in all the morning commuters." Pete said with importance thinking that Laurie would be impressed with his high station in life.

Laurie's look turned slightly colder at his attempt to make himself seem important. As if she'd be impressed with his lofty credentials. Apparently he hadn't recognized her or he'd have known he was trying to proposition an underage teenager.

"So, what brings you here today? Did you sleep with the station manager just so you could get an inside look at big time radio?" Pete continued not even beginning to feel the chill of the frigid temperatures Laurie was projecting.

When Laurie stayed mute in shock, Pete took it as tacit permission to make his move. He slithered closer and put one hand on the wall very near Laurie's head. Laurie had looked down in embarrassment, for him, not for her. Her actions caused him to reach out his other hand and grab her chin to bring her eyes back to his. "Oh, we've got a shy one here, hmmm? How's about I introduce you around? Then, when I'm done here in an hour or so, you can come back to my place with me. I like 'em a little shy." Pete paused for effect. "To begin with."

"Hey, get your hands off my sister!" Keith said as soon as he walked out of the men's room and saw the creep with his hands all over his little sister.

"What?" Pete spun around to look at an enraged Keith advancing quickly. Though he hadn't recognized Laurie at first sight, he did recognize Keith. He'd received a packet of information in advance of the upcoming interview and a picture that his live-in girlfriend had already lifted from him, had been included.

"I said; get your hands off of my sister, mister." Keith said and changed the word to creepo in his head. It was one of Tracy's favorite slurs and Keith decided it fit this guy to a T.

"Your sister, you say. Oh, so you must be Laurie Partridge. Sorry, didn't recognize you." The way he said it made Laurie's skin crawl. She'd been seconds away from emasculating the slimy DJ when Keith's words had caused him to move away from her. She was almost sorry Keith had showed up when he had.

"That's me." Laurie said icily.

"Excuse me; I'm needed 'on air'." Pete said importantly and made a quick get away, cursing his bad luck. She'd been a truly tasty morsel and he'd have loved to have gotten a nibble at least. But, now that he knew she was jail bait, he needed to cut and run quick.

"Who was that?" Keith asked as he walked up next to Laurie, trying to decide whether or not to follow the guy and punch him.

"I believe that is one of your interviewers." Laurie winced at the thought of how difficult the interview would be for Keith while he was so mad at the guy.

"You're kidding. What did he want? And why did he have his hands all over you?" Keith turned back to Laurie.

"Well, he never did say." Laurie lied hoping to keep Keith's anger below volcanic levels.

"You're sure you're ok?" Keith asked just as Natalie and Reuben came back toward them.

"Ok? Why? What happened?" Reuben said immediately.

"Some jerk made a pass at Laurie." Keith wasn't positive, but he was pretty sure of what he'd witnessed the end of.

"Oh yeah? Who was it?" Natalie asked in concern.

"He said his name was Pete." Laurie threw a warning glance at Natalie and then quickly lied through her teeth. "And, he didn't exactly make a pass at me."

Natalie caught Laurie's look and played along. As soon as Laurie had mentioned Pete's name, Natalie knew darn well that Laurie had been propositioned. It had taken Pete exactly 15 minutes after Natalie had been hired as an intern to make a pass at her and Laurie was way prettier than Natalie.

"Well, that's good, because Keith, Pete is one of our morning show hosts. You'll be sitting in the studio with Pete and Joey in just a few minutes. Do you think you can forget about what you thought happened here?" Natalie tried to make it sound like she was giving an inspirational speech before a big sporting event – win one for the Gipper!

"Yeah, fine. So long as Laurie's ok and he didn't make a pass at her, I'm fine." Keith said trying to push his anger down.

"Atta boy!" Reuben's cheer made him the recipient of several odd looks. "What, I'm just trying to help."

"Atta boy?" Keith shook his head at Reuben's choice of words.

"Forget it." Reuben grabbed Keith's arm and pulled him along the hallway. "We need to get you in there."

Natalie and Laurie lagged behind.

"You sure you're alright?" Natalie asked with concern.

"I said I was." Laurie said a bit defensively.

"It's just that Pete's made passes at all the women who work here and well, to be honest, he sometimes doesn't give up real easily. He can be kind of pushy." Natalie tried to explain her concern.

"No, really." Laurie finally understood. At first she'd thought Natalie was just being nosy. "Keith showed up long before anything bad happened. Besides, good old Pete was seconds away from singing soprano."

"You were really going to?" Natalie said in awe.

"Having an older brother can be good for something. Keith taught me all the best moves to get rid of unwanted advances." Laurie giggled. "In fact, that particular one he was loathe to tell me about, but since the record became a hit some not so nice guys have shown an interest in me and Keith felt obligated to give me the best ammunition, so to speak."

"Lucky girl. To have an older brother like Keith." Natalie said with feeling. Not that she wanted Keith as an older brother. She had fantasies about him that would make his being her brother more than inappropriate.

"I think so." Laurie agreed quickly.

xoxo

While a song played on the air, Pete filled Joey in on his most recent escapade. Though not as obvious about his lecherous inclinations, Joey always appreciated hearing about Pete's more active social life.

"So, I see this dish in the hallway. I'm makin' a move on her and she's lapping it up like I'm cream, baby. Anyway, I'm seconds away from leavin' you alone to do the rest of the show by yourself when all of a sudden this guy shoves me away from her." Pete had no qualms about making his story way more sensational than it actually was. In fact, most of the stories he told Joey were taller than some of L.A.'s biggest skyscrapers, but it made him feel like a big man, so who was hurt?

"Who was it?" Joey was expecting to hear that Pete had been hitting on the station manager's daughter or something.

"It was Laurie Partridge and the jerk who ruined my shot with her was none other than Keith, the punk." Pete said with passion. "We need to make him pay. You with me?"

"Well, sure. No guy should ruin another guy's chance at a hot chick like Laurie Partridge, even if she is jail bait." Joey agreed immediately. "What you got in mind?"

"You know, I'll bet the young puke ain't all that talented. I bet he don't even play his own instruments on them albums of theirs. They probably use studio musicians." Pete started to get into his idea. "We still got that old outta tune guitar around here somewhere?"

"Yeah, I think it's behind that shelf of albums over there." Joey waved toward his right. "Hold on, I gotta change the record."

While Joey took care of the important issues, Pete went rummaging around the studio and spied the old guitar sitting behind a box of old albums and a broken chair. Perfect!

Once Joey turned off the studio mics again, Pete grinned at his old school buddy. "We'll do a great interview just like the boss wants us to, but we'll include a little treat for our listeners. How does a live performance by our little Grammy nominee sound?"

"That'll put him in his place for sure. That guitar is so old and out of whack only the best musician has a shot at pulling it off. Pete you are a genius!" Joey crowed and then had to school his features to pleasant welcome as he noticed Keith and some older guy walk into the outer room of the studio.

Joey turned back to Pete and flashed him a wicked grin before turning back and waving Keith and Reuben into the studio.

xoxo

"Hey, Keith, come on in and take a seat. You can pull yourself up real tight to that microphone right over there." Joey waved Keith to a microphone across the table from him. Pete would be sitting just off to the side. "I'm Joey and this is Pete. You are about to be the guest on L.A.'s top rated radio station for your age group. Nervous?"

Keith nodded slightly. He wasn't exactly nervous. In fact, his anger hadn't given way to the case of butterflies that had attacked just before he'd left the men's room. Before they'd had time to settle in, he'd seen Pete, the creepo, with his hands all over Laurie. They hadn't had a chance to come back yet.

"No problem. We'll start off with some easy questions. Just make sure to speak directly into the microphone. If you don't, we won't be able to pick you up." Joey instructed. "We'll be on in about 30 seconds, so make yourself comfortable. You the manager?" Joey said as he turned to Reuben.

"Yes, I am." Reuben answered.

"Well, if you're going to stay in the room make sure you don't make any noise, ok?" Joey reminded him.

Reuben just nodded and leaned against the wall. Having seen Keith's reaction to Joey's partner's advances on Laurie had made Reuben's decision to stay in the room an easy one. Keith didn't often get angry, but he was definitely angry right now. Reuben had no desire to have a door between him and his client when the object of that anger was in the same room with him. Reuben threw a warning glance at the slimy Pete and received a grin that attempted to be innocent but ended up being smarmy.

Before anything else could be said, Joey put up his arm to signal for silence and turned on the microphones. "Well L.A., you are about to get a real treat this morning. We've been warning you for a week now that we had a special guest joining us in the studio this morning and he's here. Now, just a couple of quick station breaks, and we'll start letting him talk. Be right back."

Joey flipped the switch to play the commercials and glanced back at Keith. "Our station manager gave us a list of questions we'll be asking; I assume you had a chance to look them over?"

"Sure thing." Keith said amiably. It was the first interview he'd gotten the questions in advance, but it would make things much easier. It had been a rare treat to have advance notice of the subject matter.

"Ok, once that's done, we'll open the phones. That's when things could get interesting. Our audience has come up with some doozies in the past." Joey started to chuckle at his own memories.

"I'll say." Pete agreed with a wicked laugh. "Our questions will seem like a test in kindergarten compared to the questions you'll get from the listeners."

Keith didn't really care what the fans asked. He just glared his dislike at Pete and turned back to Joey. At least Joey hadn't done anything to piss him off yet.

Joey's hand went up once again and he turned the studio mics back on. "Welcome back! The teasing is officially over guys and gals; let me introduce the best morning show in L.A.'s special guest – Keith Partridge! How are you doing today Keith?"

"I'm just great, Joey, thanks for asking." Keith replied conversationally.

"Alright, we're all just dying to know, when's the next Family album coming out?" Joey started the interview and Keith kept his eyes on him, blocking Pete from his mind.

Joey and Keith 'chatted' amiably for a good fifteen minutes before Joey broke in telling the audience they needed to fit in some more commercials but that they would open the phone lines as soon as they came back so everyone was to call in if they wanted to talk with Keith. Before he could even turn off the mics, the phone lines on the phone sitting near Pete began to light up like a Christmas tree.

"Well, well, well, look at that. It appears that Keith is pretty popular with our fans." Pete said snidely.

Reuben noticed Keith tense and stepped in Keith's line of sight as Keith turned toward Pete to give him a piece of his mind. "Things are going great so far. Just stay focused." Reuben said softly.

Keith's eyes traveled up to meet Reuben's. He caught the warning look in Reuben's eyes, forced himself to relax and threw Reuben a grin. "Focused. I can do that."

"That's all I needed to hear." Reuben went back to take his post against the wall.

Joey's hand went up and he was once again talking to the listeners on the air. They started taking calls. The first few were teenage girls gushing over Keith and how cute he was – none actually ended up asking questions. Keith graciously accepted their praise or brushed it off depending on how sincere or overblown it sounded. He held back a secret smile when he noticed Pete getting disturbed by the obvious popularity of their guest with the females of what he'd previously always thought of as 'his' audience.

As the age of the callers began to mature, the profuse praise continued either based on his looks or his talent, but the calls usually ended in a question. Some asked about his personal life and whether or not he was currently serious about someone, while others just out and out propositioned Keith on the air.

Keith laughingly pushed all of the questions off without actually answering. He had no desire to talk about Carol or any other girl he'd dated on the radio. When it came to the propositions, well, he was in no position to accept any of them so he politely declined each one.

Laurie and Natalie sat outside the room and listened on the speaker on the wall.

"Is it always like that for him?" Natalie asked in awe.

"You mean the girls throwing themselves at him?" Laurie continued at Natalie's absent nod. "Mostly. He's become pretty deft at declining the invitation while still making the girl feel special, don't you think?"

"I'll say. I think every one of our callers today thinks she just got a little something special from him. It's in his voice, I think. He makes them each feel important. He makes them all feel like he's sitting next to them having a conversation instead of being interviewed over the airwaves." Natalie had watched many interviews from this very spot, but never gotten that same impression.

"He's a born flirt. No doubt about it." Laurie laughed. "He can have most any girl he wants prostrate at his feet in under 5 minutes – and that's without really trying. If he lays it on thick, well, just watch out."

"Amazing." Natalie mumbled.

"Another one bites the dust." Laurie winked at Natalie as the stunned girl turned to look at her. "You've fallen under his spell and he's not even talking to you."

Natalie's look of surprise turned into chagrin as she realized Laurie's words were true. She felt her face warming in a blush but all she could do was shake her head in wonder.

As the calls progressed, Keith was eternally grateful that the show was on a 10 second delay as the next caller had been more than explicit in her description of what she wanted to do with Keith in the privacy of her own home. Joey, slightly surprised himself, took a few seconds to disconnect the call and then quickly jumped in to put them into another station break.

"Sorry about that. You just never know what you're going to get." Joey said quickly seeing Keith's look of embarrassment.

"No problem. That wasn't your fault." Keith tried to laugh it off.

Pete, sick of being so upstaged finally couldn't keep himself from putting his two cents in. "Finally a fan that wasn't too young to know what she'd do with you if she ever caught you."

Keith knew that many of the Family's fans were young, but he also knew that there were plenty of fans who were old enough for what Pete had mentioned. He'd met several of them the night before at Faith and Franny's party. He just glared at the older man and didn't respond.

Reuben, standing behind him, had tensed thinking that Keith wouldn't let that one go by and was surprised when he did. Reuben relaxed.

"I'm just sayin', it's not like I wouldn't have done exactly what that woman was suggesting with your sister." Pete didn't have to wait long for Keith's reaction. He was out of his chair and halfway to Pete before Reuben caught him. There was murder glowing in Keith's eyes.

At this point, he was too angry to say anything so he just struggled to be let loose from Reuben's hold. He knew exactly what he would do to the jerk as soon as he got his hands on him. There would be no doubt about that.

"Whoa, the boy has a temper." Pete egged him on. He knew that the angrier Keith got, the less likely he would be able to handle the next portion of this 'interview'. So, he continued to goad him hoping he would be so angry when they went back live that Keith would slip up and slip up badly.

"So, Keith, what's it like to carry your family around on your back?" Pete threw out nonchalantly.

"What did you say?" Keith said, through his teeth.

"Well, isn't it obvious that as the song writer and lead singer, your family is nothing more than a bunch of second rate backup singers?" Pete goaded.

That comment shot Keith back up from his chair, prepared to physically knock the smarmy DJ down several pegs. His advance was stopped by Reuben stepping in front of him once again.

"Sit." Reuben instructed Keith. "Let me handle this."

Reuben threw a quick glance at Joey to see if he would intervene, but noticed he was hiding a smile behind his microphone. So, the two were in on this together. Just great.

"You, shut up." Reuben approached Pete and used every inch of his superior height to intimidate the man while speaking softly yet vehemently. "If one more word comes out of your mouth about my underage client, I'll have you arrested. On what charges, I'm not sure yet, but I'll make something up if I have to. And, don't think I don't have the contacts in this town to make it stick."

Pete looked at the previously mild mannered man with a new respect. He was momentarily cowed and looked it. He threw a nervous look at his partner to see him raise his hand to signal the commercials were coming to an end. He perked up when he noticed Joey wink at him. Maybe all wasn't lost after all.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Keith had relaxed only slightly since Reuben had gone over to the slimy DJ to have a few words. Keith had no idea what was said but noticed Pete shrink back in obvious fear. Good, Reuben was laying it on thick. He glanced out to see Laurie looking at him with a worried frown. With that small distraction, and Reuben's back turned, no one saw the shared look of devilment shared by the two DJ's; well no one but Natalie who was powerless to stop it.

As Joey welcomed the listeners back, he threw a fake smile at Keith hoping to keep him trusting just a little while longer. "Alright, everyone, with that last caller, it's become obvious that we need to stop taking calls for a while. So, how about another treat for you. Keith what do you say? How would you like to give your fans a little something special?"

Keith was cornered and he knew it. He had no idea what Joey had planned, but he couldn't very well deny his fans a 'treat', could he? "Well, Joey, I'm not sure what you have in mind, but our fans are very important to us." Keith agreed tentatively.

"What do you say you sing a couple of songs for us?" Joey tried to keep his smile genuine.

Keith shared a look with Reuben. He was here to talk, not perform. Performance had not been part of the bargain. He hadn't brought a guitar along and he politely pointed that out to Joey. "I'd have loved to have done that, but it's a little unexpected. I'm not exactly prepared."

"Hey with someone of your obvious talent, this should be a breeze. What do you say? You could tell by the amount of calls we received that you have a whole lot of your fans listening right now." Joey stuck the knife in just a little deeper.

Keith caught Reuben's tentative nod of approval. What could it hurt, the manager was thinking.

"I'd hate to disappoint anyone, so sure, I'll sing a song or two." Keith agreed.

"Pete, why don't you hand Keith his guitar." Joey made it sound like the guitar Keith was getting was his own. Reuben intercepted Pete before he could get close to Keith and grabbed the guitar from him. He didn't want Pete getting that close to Keith.

Reuben handed Keith the guitar and leaned down to whisper in his ear. "They're up to something, but I haven't been able to figure it out just yet. Play along for a little longer. They're sure to slip up soon."

Keith nodded at Reuben's suggestion and settled the guitar in his lap. As always, he chose a simple chord and strummed his thumb down the strings. What emitted from the instrument was more of a cacophony of discordant sounds than anything resembling music. Keith winced.

"Wow, that didn't sound so good." Joey grinned in pleasure at Keith's pained look.

"Just give me a second here." Keith glared his dislike at Joey who up to this point had been on his good side, but was now squarely next to his buddy in Keith's estimation. Keith began to expertly tune the guitar by ear.

While Pete and Joey frowned in disappointment as the chord went from downright ugly to normal in a few minutes, Keith covered the blank air with a funny story about the time he and Danny had started a show with their guitars inexplicably out of tune at one of their earlier shows. They'd practiced only hours before and they'd been just perfect, but as they'd rolled into their first number it was painfully obvious that things were not going to go well. They'd later found out that the air conditioning in the building had broken and it had gotten extremely cold and then hot in the building while they'd been gone and changes in temperature were notorious for causing guitars to go out of tune.

Just as Keith finished his story, the guitar he was now strumming sounded like the instrument it was meant to be.

Keith looked up with a grin and asked, "Any requests?"

Joey and Pete sat at their mics with their mouths hanging open in awe at Keith's ability to tune the guitar all while entertaining the listening public. "Well, uh, let's go back to the phones for that one." Joey quickly tried to cover while Pete began to look like a landed bass as his mouth opened and closed without sound.

The first request was the obvious one – 'I Think I Love You' which Keith gladly sang. He'd been singing it so much lately that singing it without all of the other instruments didn't bother him. He could perform the song in his sleep.

When Keith brought the song to a close, Joey glanced at the clock and realized he needed to bring the show to a close. "We don't have much time left, Keith, but we do have time for one more song. You mentioned earlier that you're in the studio working on your next album. Any chance you'll give our listeners a chance to hear something new?"

Keith glanced at Reuben again. The two DJ's didn't deserve such a treat, but it had been obvious by the number of phone calls that plenty of their fans were listening. Reuben nodded his approval, his thoughts much along the same lines as Keith's.

"Well, as I only have an acoustic guitar, I'll sing you 'She'd Rather Have the Rain'. It'll be on the album for sure as it's one of my Mom's favorites." Keith shared another tidbit for the fans before singing the song exactly the way his mother loved to hear it.

As soon as Joey thanked Keith on the air for coming to the station and went to a commercial break, Keith left the studio without a backward look.

"Gentlemen, and I use the term loosely, it's been an experience. I will be talking to the station owner about your antics today. All I have to say is you're lucky that Keith was such a good sport today." Reuben left without shaking Joey's proffered hand.

As Keith approached Laurie and Natalie, his anger was still running pretty high. He didn't trust himself to say anything and made to walk by them without a word.

"Keith, wait!" Natalie put her hand on his arm to stop him. "I just wanted to thank you."

"Thank me, for what?" Keith asked in surprise.

"For putting those two in their place. It was obvious they were trying to get you to either show your anger on the air or, worse yet, show that you don't have all the talent your fans know you have. You came out smelling like a rose when things could have gone very bad." Natalie knew Keith still wasn't really following her. "Every female in this building has been waiting for this day and I'd be willing to bet that if given the chance, every single one of them would give you a big kiss of gratitude."

"Oh brother." Laurie said in disgust.

"That's not such a bad idea." Keith grinned at Laurie's reaction.

Reuben, who had heard the last of Natalie's comments put the kibosh on the idea. "But, we don't have time for Keith to accept all of these kisses of gratitude. We need to move on to the next station. Ready?"

"Kill joy." Keith said in mock disappointment.

"Well, does he have time for one kiss of gratitude?" Natalie asked sweetly. At Reuben's nod, she leaned forward and kissed Keith on the cheek and then hugged him and whispered in his ear. "I'd have kissed you on the lips, but I know you have to be going and I know I wouldn't have been able to make it a short one."

Keith laughed as she pulled back and grinned. She couldn't resist the urge to stick her tongue out at the two watching DJ's. Both had tried very hard to be the recipient of such a show of affection from her.

Her actions caused another round of laughter as the group exited the outer studio.

xoxo

"Guess he showed us up." Pete was still in shock after all of his planning had come up empty.

"What 'us'. He showed you up. This was all your idea. I just played along." Joey pointed out.

"Oh, don't think you didn't end up looking just as much a fool for all your pretending." Pete reminded him. "And, with that last threat from the manager, we may both be out looking for a job soon."

"Don't remind me. I have no idea why I let you talk me into these stupid ideas." Joey groused.

"Because half of the stupid ideas are yours." Pete shot back.

xoxo

While Keith was at his second interview, Reuben excused himself halfway through knowing that Keith was in good hands with these latest DJ's. He asked to borrow a private phone and placed a call to the previous station's owner.

He and Stan had been friends for years. They'd broken into the business at much the same time and had seen each other frequently while they'd managed small no name acts in New York City. Both had decided to spread their wings at about the same time.

Stan had come west and gotten into radio while Reuben had signed on with Bell Records as a talent developer. Reuben hadn't moved west until he'd discovered the Partridge Family. Both were now considered highly successful in their field. They'd kept track of each other through the years and had drinks any time either was in the other's neck of the woods. They'd kept their friendship strong and Reuben was not above using that friendship to pay back the two DJ's from this morning.

"Hi Stan, got a minute?" Reuben said as soon as Stan picked up.

"For you, Reuben? Always. What's up?" Stan answered immediately.

"It's about this morning….." Reuben went into great detail about the antics of Stan's 'star' morning team and about how Keith had handled himself beautifully despite their attempts to make him come off as at best a spoiled 'superstar' and at worst a no talent 'flash in the pan'.

Stan listened attentively and then apologized. "And, if you have some time while you're in town, I'd like to apologize to the young man myself. Do you think you could come over to the house one night for dinner? I know that Phyllis would love to meet Shirley. And, well, obviously Lois would love to meet Keith. In fact, she was more than angry with me for not telling her he would be at the station today. She was all set to skip school just to be able to meet him."

Reuben and Stan said they'd touch base once the awards were over and see if they could squeeze something in. Before hanging up, Reuben was assured that Pete and Joey would not finish the day without finding out that messing around with the country's most popular heartthrob and his well connected manager did not come without a price.

Reuben would wait to share the outcome with Keith until he was sure what that outcome would be.

xoxo

After the second radio station interview was done, Laurie had been dropped off at the hotel for her hair and make-up session with Shirley while Keith and Reuben headed off for station number three.

Looking back on the second interview while in the car, they realized it could not have gone any better. The two DJ's were respectful and truly interested in what life was like for a family that performed together. They'd even requested that Laurie come on the air for a while as she was already there.

They too opened the lines for callers to ask questions but didn't have the same problem with overly aggressive callers.

Keith and Reuben were very pleased with the second interview. They only had two more to go before they would stop back at the hotel for lunch and then spend the afternoon at the hotel hall practicing not only the Family's performance, but also Shirley and Keith's presentation.

xoxo

The late morning and afternoon went smoothly. Shirley and Laurie were both pleased and excited about the 'look' that their personal designers had come up with for each of them. Even with lots of questions, neither would give away any of their Grammy night secrets. 'You'll have to wait and see for yourself' was all that either would say.

It was now late afternoon, and the presenters were practicing their portion of the show. Shirley and Keith had walked down from the stage after rehearsing their short pre-award chat they would have the night of the awards. It was supposed to appear natural and unrehearsed, while it was anything but. They'd read the lines several times and been given pointers and tips by the show's director to help improve the delivery.

Danny was very critical as they sat down at the table where the rest of the family was waiting. "No matter how many times you say those lines, they will fall flatter than a pancake."

"Danny! Don't be rude." Laurie tried shushing him.

"What's rude about being honest?" Danny argued. "I'm just saying that the lines aren't funny."

At the looks from everyone in the family he said defensively, "Well they're not."

"Sometimes it's just best to keep your opinion to yourself." Reuben suggested quietly to the boy who wanted so much to be a man.

"What, you don't agree with me?" Danny said just as quietly to Reuben as he had spoken to him.

"I'm not disagreeing." Reuben admitted honestly. "It's just that Keith and your mom don't have any influence on what they're going to have to say and they're both nervous enough about it. No need to make them more nervous by making them think that the joke will bomb."

"But it will, I'm telling you." Danny tried again.

"Probably, but they don't need to know that." Reuben tried to explain one more time, in a way that Danny would understand. "Ignorance is bliss."

"Hmmm, I suppose you're right. But still, shouldn't they be prepared?" Danny didn't like the idea of anyone from the family not coming off as perfect on the night of the awards.

"They are. Just look at them." Reuben nodded toward Shirley and Keith who were both a little stiff after their rehearsal. They knew their lines were corny but could do nothing to change them. They were newcomers in the world of the Grammy's. No one would listen to them even if they tried.

Just do what you're told, when you're told.

xoxo

That evening, while the family had gone out for a relaxing dinner at a pricey restaurant on the record company, their instruments had been moved to the Century Plaza Hotel, the site of the Awards show.

A limousine had taken care of their transportation and they'd arrived at the restaurant without anyone knowing they were going to be there. Reuben had arranged for a private dining room in hopes of heading off any aggressive fans interrupting what was to be a private event for the family that had been on display for over a week already.

Shirley had at first just suggested they go back to the hotel knowing that in their suite, no one would bother them. Reuben had explained what he'd arranged and Shirley had smiled at him appreciatively. He really was very good to them. The change of scenery was appreciated by everyone.

They were having a great time just catching up with each other. They'd been in separate interviews several times throughout the last few days and they were exchanging stories of the most outrageous questions. Her parents, especially, were enjoying the conversation as they had missed out on most of the interviews and the often humorous conversations that Shirley, Keith and Laurie had shared in between the sessions.

"Alright, let's have a contest. We all get to vote at the end. Who got asked THE most outrageous question?" Fred decided that though the comments were funny, it might be fun to make a contest out of it. "Each of you pick your most outrageous question and then we'll all vote."

Shirley offered the first one up for a vote. "My most outrageous question was 'what do you feed your children to make them so beautiful?' Imagine, as if what someone eats makes a difference in how they look."

"Ok, that was pretty weird. Laurie what's yours?" Fred chuckled at Shirley's. It was certainly odd but he didn't find it particularly outrageous. His daughter's family was unusually beautiful though it had more to do with genetics than diet.

"Hmm….let me think." Laurie pondered for a moment and then her eyes lit up. "Oh, it had to be that nervous man who said he was from the Omaha Observer. He asked me, and I kid you not, 'Will you marry me and move to Omaha to live with me and my mother'?"

"You're kidding! You hadn't mentioned that one before." Shirley laughed but made a mental note to not let Laurie give interviews to young male reporters when she was by herself.

"Was that the short little guy with the bad comb-over?" Keith was trying to remember the guy.

"That's him. Attractive, hmmm?" Laurie giggled having not taken him seriously now or back then.

"If you like that type." Shirley finally found the real humor in it. They'd been in a room full of people. What could have gone wrong?

"Ok, Keith, you're next." Fred stifled his laughing long enough to move on to Keith.

"I can't say mine." Keith could almost feel a blush starting though he fought it hard.

"Oh, ho, I know which one you're thinking of. And, you're right you can't say that one." Laurie remembered the caller at the radio station.

"Why not?" Fred was really curious now.

"Well, let's just say that Laurie's reporter's question was mild. Though mine didn't include an offer of marriage it did include spending time with her and her mother." Keith grinned at his grandfather who started out with a blank look on his face which graduated into an open mouthed gape.

"Close your mouth Fred. They haven't brought the food yet." Amanda gently guided his mouth closed.

It was eventually agreed by everyone that Keith's call-in fan took the award for most outrageous though he hadn't actually shared the question in consideration of Chris and Tracy being present. Danny had been offended that Keith wasn't willing to share. He suggested that Keith tell him later, when Chris and Tracy weren't around.

"In your dreams, Red." Keith chuckled. Mature as Danny claimed to be, Keith had absolutely no intention of filling him in on the details of what the girl (well actually she had been all woman) had said to him.

"Oh come on. I can guess." Danny said smugly.

"Oh really." Laurie challenged him.

"Yes. And would you like to know how I know?" Danny continued.

"No." Shirley said with a warning look.

Danny ignored her and said, "I'll tell you how I know. I would be willing to bet that her 'question' doesn't even fit the definition. She didn't ask Keith a question, she propositioned him."

"Daniel Partridge." Shirley kept her voice down but there was steel behind her words.

"Mommy, what does propo….propo….what Danny said. What does that mean?" Tracy asked innocently.

"It means that someone's mouth is too big for this little room." Reuben said straight faced to Tracy making her believe that what he said was the true definition of the word she couldn't even pronounce.

Shirley had to hide her smile behind her hand. She was amused by Reuben's definition that completely satisfied Tracy's curiosity, but she was still angry with her middle son for requiring the need of an explanation.

Danny gulped dramatically when he caught his mother's once again angry glare. Sometimes he should just remain silent, though that was never an easy feat for him. He was extremely glad when several fans had noticed the family while the door to their private dining quarters was propped open to allow the wait staff to deliver their food.

He wasn't happy about the fact that their food started to grow cold while they'd signed autographs, but the matre'd had shown them the door as soon as he'd become of aware of the situation.

xoxo

After dinner they headed back to the Century Plaza Hotel for the performance rehearsals. They needed to make sure their setup was satisfactory. They ended up waiting patiently while they watched several other performers work through their song. They saw Dionne Warwick, Anne Murray, Aretha Franklin, The Osmonds, the Carpenters and Three Dog Night all run through their songs.

Shirley wondered why they allowed the group with the youngest performers to wait until the last. It made no sense. When she mentioned it to Reuben, he just shrugged and said he wasn't running things.

The kids hadn't minded waiting. They'd enjoyed watching the performances. Besides, they'd be less nervous if they went last thinking that most of the other performers would leave once they were done.

They were surprised to see that most of them hadn't. They took their places on the stage in their usual places. They were squeezed more tightly together than normal as they needed to fit on a small section of the stage that would be swapped out throughout the night for different performers.

The director of the show and his sound people had a quick conversation with Keith and made each of the family play a short snippet of their instrumental parts to get a sound level on each. Then they ran through a quick microphone level and finally nodded to Keith letting them know that they were good to go.

Keith counted them down and they rolled into 'I Think I Love You'. They'd been performing it for quite a few months, so they felt really comfortable doing it if not a bit nervous considering their audience who all turned their attention to them.

Shirley smiled as her brood took it all in stride and ran through their take perfectly on the first try. It was a whole lot different than the first time they'd ever performed in front of a live audience. That had been nerve wracking to say the least. It appeared that her children were seasoned professionals at this point. She just hoped that tomorrow they would do as well. Of course, the cameras would be rolling that time. Why invite trouble?

As they began to descend from the stage, they were met by Richard and Karen Carpenter. "That was great!" Karen said.

"Thank you. We could say the same for your performance." Laurie the closest to them quickly answered.

Richard would have been only too happy to point out that he and Karen were both adults. It was saying something that kids so young were able to perform so professionally. Instead, he sought out Keith and complimented him on his nominations. "Keith, congratulations on your song writing nomination. You deserve it."

"Thanks, I have to admit it was a bit of a surprise." Keith said honestly.

"Oh, quit being so modest. They only nominate the best." Laurie chided him. She knew her brother was naturally pretty humble, but while talking to people who were equally as talented it was important for Laurie to remind him that he'd earned this nomination. It hadn't been handed to him.

"She's right. You really did write a great song." Karen agreed with Laurie.

Keith grinned his thanks, but decided to remain quiet. He didn't want to sound egotistical and was afraid that might be what happened. Though he was proud of his accomplishment, he did feel like it had come pretty early in his career. Others equally as talented had not been recognized until much later in their careers if ever. He considered himself more lucky than skilled.

Shirley, noticing Keith's discomfort, rolled the conversation back to the Carpenter's own accomplishments. They were up for several awards themselves.

Before long, most of the performers who had stuck around for the last songs to be sung were all standing around introducing themselves and complimenting each other on not only their performances, but past accomplishments as well. It was a mutual admiration society.

The practice sessions moved to the hotel bar and the reception that had been laid out for them. Shirley's parents took Danny, Chris and Tracy back to the hotel while Shirley, Keith, Laurie and Reuben stayed to mix and mingle with the other performers.

Karen and Richard Carpenter spent a considerable amount of time with Keith and Laurie. They found that even outside of music they had many of the same interests and enjoyed swapping stories of life on the road which was relatively new to both groups. It was also nice to share stories of what it was like to travel the country with your sibling.

Shirley smiled at seeing her kids talking to the wildly popular duo. Her smile slowly dropped off her face as she remembered wanting to ask Laurie and Keith about the story her father had read in the paper. Seeing Keith and Laurie with the Carpenters, the other potential brother and sister duo, reminded Shirley that she hadn't asked either of them about it. She made a mental note and went back to her discussion with Andy Williams.

Before anyone knew it, it was once again the wee hours of the morning before they decided to head back to the hotel.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

_G-day minus 0 – Tuesday, March 16_

"Keith, it's only a couple of hours before we have to leave. Get up!" Laurie shook Keith's shoulder while talking to him in a firm voice. He was so very hard to wake up when he was as tired as he must be.

After they'd attended last night's pre-show party, Keith had decided to head over the studio with Wes who had been at the party too. They'd been talking about one of the new songs and had come up with a couple of ideas on how to improve it. They were sure that at least one of the ideas would fix it, but didn't want to wait to find out.

Keith had had to sweet talk his mom into letting him go. This was to have been one of the nights that he would get the most sleep. He had no reason to be getting up early the next day. However, if he spent half the night in the studio, he would not be getting the extra sleep Shirley had so wanted him to get. She had finally given in knowing that Keith would stay up half the night back at the hotel if she didn't let him go to the studio anyway, so why fight it.

Keith had kissed her on the cheek and headed out to Wes's car. Wes had promised to bring him back to the hotel when they finished.

Wes and Keith had lost all track of time and the sun was coming up when Keith had let himself into the hotel suite. He'd run into his Grandmother who was an early riser and had gotten to bed early the night before as the younger kids had been sent back to the hotel before the party.

"Keith, for goodness sake, you're just getting back now?" She'd said in shock.

"Sorry, we lost track of time. I'm bushed. I'm going to go and crash." Keith kissed her cheek as he walked by feeling much like a zombie.

"I'll try to keep the noise levels down for you dear." Grandma said to his quickly departing back. He threw her a grateful grin over his shoulder.

Shirley found out about his overly late arrival later that morning after having slept in herself. All she could do was shake her head and worry in silence. She wasn't about to wake him to chastise him on his inability to take a break.

Shirley had finally sent Laurie in to wake Keith knowing that she had let him sleep as long as she could.

"Come on sleepyhead. You want to look beautiful for the cameras, don't you?" Laurie teased as she shook his shoulder again.

"Just five more minutes." Keith mumbled and tried to roll away from her.

"Sorry. We waited until the last minute as it is. Just think about it Keith, what if your hair doesn't cooperate? Do you really want the world to see you with a bad hair day?" Laurie's teasing finally got her a one eyed glare.

"I'll give you a bad hair day." Keith said as he finally pushed himself to a seated position. "Alright, I'm up. Get out of here so I can jump in the shower."

"About time." Laurie turned and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Keith resisted the urge to plop back down and take those five more minutes of shut eye that he had asked for previously. But, no, Laurie had been right. Though it didn't take him as long to get ready as his family constantly teased him about, it couldn't hurt to leave a little room for error. They were going to be on live television. The first broadcasted Grammy awards show – that they were nominated for.

How had he slept with that thought running through his head? He should be so excited he couldn't sleep, right?

His overly busy schedule for more than a week had made sure that even the excitement of the awards weren't able to keep him up. Talk about your small favors.

Keith still wasn't fully awake even after a nice long shower. He needed caffeine and that was not up for debate. There was usually a carafe on the wet bar but it was already pretty late in the day. Would it still be there? He sure hoped so.

He slung one towel around his hips and grabbed another one to start rubbing the wetness from his hair. With the towel over his head, he was only able to see where his feet were going to land next.

When he opened the bedroom door, all eyes in the room swung in that direction. And, in this case, all eyes meant almost a dozen pairs of eyes. Not only was his whole family in the living area, but the people helping his mom and Laurie get ready were there too. So were Aimee and her photographer from the Teen magazine.

She and Laurie had talked about the possibility of the magazine getting a 'behind the scenes' look at what it took to prepare for the first televised Grammy Awards show. After talking it over with her Mom, Laurie had gotten Reuben to set it up.

"Keith!" Shirley gasped as her barely clad son came strolling into the room apparently unconcerned.

He pulled the towel from his head as the tone of her voice told him something was wrong. He was stunned to see so many strangers watching him. "Oops. I forgot we were going to have visitors."

Keith threw one of his best grins in their direction and made a quick grab for the towel that had begun to slip before heading back in the direction he had come from. The coffee would have to wait it seemed; at least until he had put some clothes on.

Danny rolled his eyes at the heavy sighs he heard from almost every female in the room not related to his brother. Danny was pretty sure that the grin Keith had bestowed upon them had been the undoing of most of them. How did Keith do it? He blunders into a room more than half naked and doesn't even appear to be embarrassed. Danny would have died if all those girls had been staring at him while he was half naked. Not Keith; instead of blushing and running, he grins. Unbelievable.

xoxo

Keith had rejoined the group after he'd dried his hair and put on some clothes. The coffee was still there and he was only too happy to add a little zip to his blood stream.

"I liked you better in the towel." Aimee joked as she came up behind him. She kept a watchful eye on her photographer who was trying to capture shots of Shirley and Laurie getting their hair done. At Keith's raised eyebrow she laughed and continued, "It was a good color for you."

"Basic white, hmmm?" Keith laughed with her. "It's good to see you again. When did this all get set up?"

"You mean the behind the scenes look at the Partridge females getting dolled up for the Grammy's?" At Keith's nod she continued. "Laurie and I talked about it at the beach party and your manager firmed up the plans last night."

"Having fun?" Keith asked.

"Actually, it is fun. I get to vicariously find out what it's like to get ready for such a big night. You must be thrilled." Aimee watched Keith's nonchalant look turn a little nervous.

"Thrilled, nervous, excited and scared all at the same time." Keith admitted.

"Why scared?" Aimee asked in surprise.

"It's the award my mom and I have to present. I'm afraid I'll screw up the lines." Keith set down his cup and looked around for something to eat. He was starving. He lifted the lid on a container sitting on the wet bar to find a tray of sandwiches. Thank you Mom!

"You get cue cards, right?" Aimee was sure that was the case.

"Well, sure, but that doesn't mean I won't stumble over them or read it wrong." Keith took a bite of the sandwich he'd picked up. "Want one?"

"No thanks. I ate lunch at the normal hour of noon. You'll do great." Aimee assured him.

"Thanks. I'm sure it'll be fine. I always get a case of the butterflies before every performance." Keith admitted.

"After all this time?" Aimee was surprised to hear that he could still get nervous after performing in front of audiences for so long.

"It hasn't been all that long, and yeah, I still get them. Mostly because I'm nervous that something might go wrong. Perfectionist at heart I guess." Keith finished the half a sandwich and grabbed the other half.

"I better get back over there. I just wanted to wish you luck tonight. I hope you win." Aimee smiled and walked away with Keith's 'thanks' following her.

As Aimee walked away, Shirley came up to take her place. "She's a very nice girl. I like her." Shirley followed Aimee's progress across the room as she started chatting with Laurie while the girl doing her hair was brushing the long strands.

"Yeah, she is. Too nice to be a reporter." Keith joked.

"Maybe, but she's very good at it. She gets you to answer very personal questions without making it feel like your privacy is being invaded." Shirley noticed Keith finishing the second half of his sandwich. "Did you want something else to eat? I wasn't sure, but I knew you'd wake up hungry. Knowing you, you forgot to eat anything last night before going to bed."

"No, this is great. Thanks for remembering." Keith smiled his appreciation for his mother's thoughtfulness. "By the way, you look positively amazing. What's with the extra hair?"

"It's called a fall. It sounded like fun when Stacy mentioned it. I love how it turned out." Shirley admitted. She loved the ease of her short hair, but it was fun to play around with it; especially when someone else was doing the styling of it.

"You'll be the prettiest lady there." Keith leaned over to give her a kiss on the cheek.

"I think that honor may belong to your sister, but thank you for saying so, sweetheart." Shirley smiled her thanks.

"It's in the genes." Keith pointed out that Laurie wouldn't have had a chance at being as pretty as she was if not for the beauty of her mother.

"Of which you have the same ones. So, will you be as pretty as Mom and Laurie?" Danny had come up behind them without their noticing.

"One has to wonder how those 'good looking' genes skipped right over you." Keith shot back.

"Boys, no insults. Not today." Shirley admonished both of them.

"Right. Sorry." Keith said right away. You had to shoot back at Danny fast or he would get on a tangent and you'd never hear the end of it. "When do we have to leave again?"

"The limo will be here in about a half an hour. You should probably go and put on your tux." Shirley said as she looked down at her own robe. The dress was the last step in their 'getting ready' process. You didn't want to get into it too soon or it would have too many wrinkles.

"Right." Keith headed back toward the bedroom. He really had cut it rather close.

xoxo

They had been sitting in traffic for more than 15 minutes. It was a good thing they'd left as early as they had. The drive over had been short, but the wait to pull up to the hotel was slow and tedious. Especially with everyone so keyed up about the show. The kids had a ton of nervous energy that was hard to contain. They squirmed in their seats and tried to catch glimpses of all the other famous people and what they were wearing, but they weren't yet close enough to see anything.

"How much longer do you think it'll be?" Danny asked Reuben who was resplendent in his own tux. He was acting as Shirley's escort that evening.

"Not too much. We can't be more than a half a block away now and with all these stretch limos, that can't be more than a few cars." Reuben reasoned.

"Yeah, this sure beats the bus." Danny ran his hand over the leather seat he was currently occupying. "Maybe we should get one of these to take us on all our tours."

"I don't think the equipment would fit." Shirley pointed out.

"The bus can follow us. Once we win a Grammy, we'll be expected to travel in style." Danny reasoned.

"In your dreams, kid." Reuben stuck a pin in his idea. "It's record sales that make the money, not awards. A Grammy does not buy you nice cars and a snazzy new lifestyle."

"I think we're next." Laurie announced excitedly.

"Sure enough." Reuben agreed. "Ready gang?"

With yeses all around, they waited for the car to pull up to the hotel entrance. They could now see the crowds of people watching the arrivals. There was a huge group of photographers snapping picture after picture with flashbulbs popping almost endlessly.

When the door was pulled open by the formal doorman, who was the envy of all his buddies, Reuben got out first. He reached his hand back into the car and to give Shirley assistance. The crowd who wondered who was in the car needed to wait no longer. As soon as Shirley stood up next to Reuben, a loud cheer could be heard from the crowd. Shirley waved as she heard her name screamed from an adoring fan.

Moments later, the screams grew in volume as Keith exited the car next. He paused only long enough to throw a grin and a jaunty wave before putting his own hand out to Laurie who was maneuvering herself closer to the door without catching her beautiful dress on anything.

"Ready?" Keith said as she finally put her hand in his.

"Am I ever." Laurie grinned and let Keith pull her to a standing position next to him. They quickly stepped away from the car as they knew that Danny, Chris and Tracy would not be far behind. They strolled leisurely to the entrance pausing occasionally so that someone could take another picture of them.

Reuben had stepped slightly aside to let the family get photographed together, but came right back to offer Shirley his arm so that they could go inside.

Seeing spots, they finally made it inside. The afternoon/evening was off to an amazing start.

xoxo

They spent a little time socializing outside of the ballroom, but were soon told to take their seats. The family was seated at a table just to the right of the stage that jutted out into the audience. It was a very good seat. All of the winners would walk past them. Danny was excited because he figured that he would get more face time by being caught in each of the shots of the winners exiting the stage.

Keith and Shirley would be told to go backstage two awards before the one they would be presenting which was for 'Best vocal performance by a duo, group or chorus'. While backstage, Andy Williams came up to Keith and suggested a small off-script repartee. At first, Keith wasn't that wild about it, but he remembered Danny's words, that his and Shirley's scripted joke wasn't all that funny. He hoped that Andy's suggestion would make up for it.

Keith and Shirley tried to stay out of the way of the busy backstage scene and also tried to keep each other from passing out with a case of nerves.

"Do I have spinach in my teeth?" Keith joked.

"Well, considering you haven't eaten any spinach, my guess would be no." Shirley laughed at her son's attempt to take her mind off what was coming next. "You look great and you know it."

"Thanks, I guess I just needed to hear you say it one more time." Keith squeezed her hand in farewell as he was told to move to the other side of the backstage area.

Shirley and Keith would each enter from opposite sides of the stage, meet in the center and walk to the podium together.

They waited to hear their names announced and then began to walk toward each other. Shirley could feel her heart pounding and was a little nervous that she would somehow or another slip before she had Keith to hold onto.

She made it and they clasped hands to make the last leg of their journey to the podium. She felt Keith squeeze her hand in reassurance. She must really look nervous if he was trying to make her feel more comfortable. She smiled her appreciation.

When the joke fell flatter than the pancake that Danny compared it to, they both put on bright smiles and pushed on through. Keith had trouble getting the envelope open in his nervousness and Shirley had to refrain from reaching over and giving him a hand.

When it was all said and done, The Carpenters had won the award.

Shirley walked off and was surprised to find Keith not right behind her. She glanced back to see that he was standing beside the shows emcee and joking around with him about age. It was a bit like having the past and future of the music world standing side by side.

Shirley continued right on past their table. They would be performing soon. Her kids would join her backstage at the next station break so as not to disrupt the show. Keith joined her shortly after his added time with Andy Williams.

"What in the world was that?" Shirley asked him immediately.

"Something Mr. Williams suggested at the last minute. I'm not sure it went any better than the scripted joke." Keith said a bit sadly.

"Guess Danny was right." Shirley agreed.

"Yeah, but let's not remind him." Keith grinned. "He's already hard enough to live with."

"Well, here he comes now. You all ready for this?" Shirley asked her brood.

It had been decided that they would not change into stage costumes as it would take too long and they would likely end up ruining their dresses, hair or make-up. They would be very mismatched which was different than their normally well coordinated outfits.

"We're ready." Danny assured her. Nothing ever got him nervous or at least if it did, he refused to admit it.

"Alright then, let's take our places. We go on in a few minutes." Shirley led the youngest ones to their spots and Danny, Keith and Laurie followed behind.

Their performance went beautifully. They received a rousing round of applause from the crowd of musicians and fans alike.

They kept the huge grins on their faces until the stage had rotated to the backstage area. They were quickly shoo'ed off so that their equipment could be torn down and replaced by the equipment for Three Dog Night. Now, if the rest of the night went just as well. All that was left to decide was whether or not they would win the awards they were nominated for.

If the butterflies had been kept at bay until now, they were definitely in full flight. Especially for Keith, he had one more award than the family did. He was nervous, excited and scared all at the same time. He did his best to hide it, but it must have shown a little because Laurie walked up beside him as they waited for the next station break to retake their seats.

"Are you getting excited?" She asked.

"Naw." Keith tried to sound nonchalant.

"Oh really?" Laurie called his bluff.

"Well, maybe just a little. Aren't you?" Keith finally admitted.

"Of course I am, but I only have to wait a little while longer for the Best new artist award. You have to wait until the end for Record and Song of the year." Laurie helpfully pointed out. Even though the whole family would accept if they won Record of the year, everyone knew these last two awards really belonged to Keith. Well, Keith and Wes, their producer.

"Don't remind me." Keith laughed nervously.

"Win or lose, it's still an honor to just be here." Laurie tried to help him put it in the right perspective.

"I know. But winning would be….better." Keith finished lamely.

"You might say that." Laurie laughed. "Come on, they just went to the station break. Let's get back to our seats before we get stuck out here until the next one."

xoxo

Settled back in their seats, they all tried vainly to calm their nerves. Their award was just minutes away. They all visibly tensed when Henry Mancini was announced. He was presenting the award they were being nominated for – Best New Artist.

Time dragged. The pre-award banter was overly long – at least that's the way it seemed. Shirley and Keith both realized that being nominated for an award was much more stressful than giving an award. They shared a glance as Mr. Mancini began to list the nominees.

He started with The Carpenters, then went on to read Elton John's name. From there it was Melba Moore and Anne Murray. They all drew in a breath when he started saying 'and The Partridge Family'. No one let it out until he opened the envelope and said, "The winner of the Best New Artist is…"

The pause was interminable. They all thought they would pass out before the words finally fell from his lips. "The Partridge Family!"

The table erupted in a frenzy of celebration from the youngest Partridge's while Shirley, Keith and Laurie exerted great control over their emotions by sharing relieved smiles with each other and rising, what appeared to be slowly, from their seats rather than screaming loudly their own joy.

They'd won. They'd actually won.

It was surreal.

The walk up to the podium seemed like a dream. Henry Mancini handed the award to Shirley who grabbed it, took a good look at it and handed it to Keith while taking her spot at the podium to accept the award. The family had decided that she would make the speech.

"We are extremely honored to be acknowledged for this award. It's hard to believe, at times, that we've even made a record. I am so proud of my children. We'd like to thank our manager, Mr. Reuben Kincaid, the record company for taking a chance on a family that was nothing more than a garage band at that time, all of our producers and of course, the fans. Thank you."

The kids had circled around her while she'd made the speech and had each taken a chance to hold or touch the award. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity and they'd cashed in.

It was almost more than Danny could stand. The dollar signs were flipping through his head as his mother expressed the family's appreciation of winning the award. They had made it!

As they floated off the stage, walking was too mundane for what they were doing, they managed to hold their peace until they were backstage. Once there, an impromptu celebration of hugs and excited chatter from the younger ones ensued.

They spent only a short time in the interview room. They needed to get back to their seats for the presentation of Keith's upcoming award.

They hadn't been sitting for very long when Burt Bacharach was announced and walked slowly to the podium.

This was it. Keith's first shot at a solo award for Song of the Year.

He thought he might just pass out long before Burt even began talking. The tension was killing him.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

He floated up from the deepest sleep he could ever remember experiencing. The climb was slow and pleasant. There was no being jarred from sleep by his arguing brothers or having his shoulder shaken by Laurie or his mom. This was the first night he had been allowed to sleep as long as he'd wanted.

He slowly opened his eyes and glanced at the closed drapes. He couldn't tell what time it was through their darkening folds. His eyes moved from the window to the dresser. There they were. The awards.

He'd beaten out The Carpenters, Ray Stevens, James Taylor, The Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel for Song and Record of the year. He'd be easily talked into believing he was still sleeping and thus dreaming. It still felt surreal.

He blinked his eyes slowly, but the Grammy awards remained sitting on the dresser.

He rolled slowly onto his back and closed his eyes looking back mentally on the events of the day before.

He reflected on how he'd felt when he'd heard Burt Bacharach announce his name as the songwriter of 'I Think I Love You'. Hearing his name listed with the other nominees had been thrill enough. Or so he'd thought. When it had finally registered that he'd won, he'd been stunned. His mother had had to urge him to his feet.

Wes had been waiting for him to finish accepting the hugs and kisses of congratulations from his family. They'd walked up the stage steps together and Wes had let Keith speak first. He had no recollection of what he'd said, but he'd seen the beaming faces of his family looking on.

He must have done alright because Danny hadn't said too much about it.

He was still trying to wrap his mind around his second Grammy award when The Fifth Dimension began to read the nominees for Song of the year. The competition was the same as the award before and the results were much the same. The Partridge Family won the award for Song of the Year. It was amazing. It was unbelievable.

It was reality.

Keith didn't bother to hold back the grin that wanted to take over his face. Why shouldn't he gloat in the privacy of his own hotel room?

He stretched in preparation of getting out of bed. As he yawned and threw his hands over his head, he felt the pull of stiff and sore muscles. He wasn't sure why he felt achy, but maybe the enthusiastic hugs he'd shared with his family had been more strenuous than he'd remembered.

He sat up, swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up quickly. He almost sat back down just as quickly when the room decided to do a slow spin. He reached to the side and put his hand on the wall while the world slowly righted itself once again.

That had been weird.

He took several tentative steps toward the bathroom and when the world stayed on an even keel, he shrugged it off as standing up too fast and strolled into the bathroom to start his day.

By the time he was done with his shower, a small headache had taken up residence in the middle of his forehead. It was annoying, but he figured it had more to do with his growling stomach than anything else, so he ignored it. He strolled out into the living area of the hotel suite to find it empty. No wonder it had been so quiet. He was alone, or so he thought.

Just as he was about to go in search of a note, he heard a series of snores emitted from the sofa that was facing away from him. He would recognize those dulcet tones anywhere. His grandfather was asleep on the couch if he didn't miss his guess.

He walked around the sofa and found his grandfather flat on his back with a newspaper draped over his chest. Keith smiled at the picture. He must have fallen asleep while waiting for Keith to wake up. His mother and grandmother likely took the other kids out on an adventure so that Keith would get all the quiet he needed to sleep.

At that thought, he glanced at the windows and noticed the sun lowering in the sky. He'd slept until almost dinner time, which meant that the rest of the family would likely soon be making an appearance. Before he could decide what he wanted to do next, he heard the key in the lock and the rest of his family loudly piled into the room; their mother following and trying to shush them the whole way.

She gave up when she spotted Keith watching them with a grin on his face. Good he was up. She'd taken care of getting him the sleep he'd needed, now she intended on getting him some nutrition.

"Hi, honey, when did you get up?" Shirley asked as she walked over to give him a kiss on the cheek.

"Not that long ago. Oh, look, they've woken Sleeping Beauty." Keith motioned to Grandpa who was fighting his way out from under the newspaper that in his befuddled state seemed to have tripled in size.

"Hungry?" Shirley laughed at her father's antics.

"Closer to starving, actually." Keith agreed.

"Good." Shirley smiled when Keith gave her a surprised look at her answer. "I just meant that dinner should be on its way up shortly. I stopped at the front desk to order it."

"I'm not sure I can wait that long." Keith joked back.

"Well, if you hadn't slept through breakfast and lunch, you wouldn't be so hungry." Shirley reminded him.

"Hey, I thought you wanted me to get more sleep." Keith acted wounded.

"A mother's work is never done." Shirley said mockingly while she placed her hand against her forehead causing Keith to laugh at her overacting.

Within fifteen minutes Shirley had settled her hungry family around the table and they'd tucked into the hearty fare.

Keith started out eating voraciously, but before he'd finished half of what was on his plate, he set his fork down and reached for his water glass. As hungry as he'd thought he was, he realized his eyes had been bigger than his stomach.

"Full already?" Shirley asked. She'd been watching him like a hawk. He looked a little pale to her, but he'd been acting very normal. Well, normal that is, until he'd stopped eating before he could possibly be full.

"Yeah, thanks. That was great." Keith's words seemed a little forced to her.

"I thought you said you were starving?" Laurie looked at the mound of food remaining on his plate.

"I was, guess I've just had enough." Keith admitted.

"Can I have your roll?" Danny asked. The basket had been emptied and though his plate was almost empty already, he was already looking for more.

"Sure, it's all yours." Keith realized that he hadn't touched it along with barely anything else on his plate. He shrugged, but his stomach was telling him he didn't want any more.

Danny reached quickly past Keith worried that he might renege on the offer and snagged the roll for his own plate.

"Are you feeling alright?" Shirley asked in concern.

"Sure, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Keith grinned at her idly noting that his headache hadn't abated one bit and might even had increased slightly. It was still only a nagging ache rather than a throbbing nuisance. "Hey, where's Reuben?"

Reuben had been joining them for most meals while they'd been on this trip and his absence was conspicuous.

"He's having dinner with someone from NBC." Laurie informed her brother while trying to remain nonchalant. "Something about an appearance on the Tonight Show."

She lost her ability to keep a huge smile inside. It was another coup for the family to be a guest of Johnny Carson.

"You're kidding." Keith said in awe.

"Nope, she's not. I can't wait to tell my friends about this one. Not that any of them will be able to stay up and watch me, but I can still brag." Danny reached over to stab a piece of Keith's meatloaf and transferred it to his almost empty plate. "You don't mind, do you?" He said after having taken his first bite.

Keith ignored Danny's filtching of his food. He wasn't hungry anyway.

"No comment?" Danny couldn't help but egg on his brother who had yet to loose the look of awe.

"Danny, leave Keith alone. You've had all day to let the idea sink in; he's just hearing it for the first time." Shirley shushed Danny.

"When is this supposed to happen?" Keith tried to wrap his brain around this latest reveal.

"Tomorrow night." Danny finally sat back from his plate. "What's for dessert?"

"Chocolate cake." Shirley said as she got up to get the dessert now that everyone was finished with their meal.

"I'll pass." Keith said as Shirley made to set a piece in front of him.

"I'll take his." Danny said immediately and helped redirect his mother's hand holding the plate.

"He can have mine too." Laurie offered.

"Now that's what I call a windfall." Danny said as he forked in his first mouthful.

Keith watched Danny shovel in the three pieces of cake that he'd been gifted with and felt his stomach turn. He swallowed hard and ignored the need to regurgitate his recently ingested meal; small though it had been.

"When will we know for sure?" Keith turned away from Danny hoping that would stop his stomach from cramping.

"Reuben should be back pretty soon." Shirley watched Danny almost stab her father with his fork as Grandpa did he best to relieve her middle son from making a glutton of himself.

"Hey! Forks off!" Danny said as he pulled the plates away from his Grandfather's approaching utensil.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you to share?" Grandpa sniffed.

"Yeah, but that was my toys and stuff; I don't do food." Danny said down his nose.

"You'll make yourself sick if you eat all that." Shirley reminded him.

"No, I won't." Danny assured her.

"Well, you're making me sick just watching you eat all that." Keith said as he looked back at Danny whose mouth was now rimmed with chocolate frosting.

"Then don't watch." Danny suggested.

"Good idea. May I be excused?" Keith said and headed for the balcony at his mother's smiling nod.

Keith hadn't been out there for two minutes before he knew he'd been joined.

"Not feeling very good?" Laurie asked from behind him.

"I'm alright." Keith assured her.

"I've never seen you eat so little when the food was that good. This hotel has an excellent chef." Laurie took up the spot right next to him and checked out the activity on the street below.

"I guess my body is out of whack. I was starving before we started and then just as fast, I was full." Keith reasoned.

"At least you got a good night's sleep last night. You slept more than 12 hours." Laurie accepted Keith's explanation. She knew how a weird schedule could mess with the body's clock and she herself ate little while they were busy.

"Yeah, I needed that." Keith sighed as he wondered why he could still feel so tired after having only been up for a couple of hours.

"Oh, hey, look. Reuben's back." Laurie said as she caught some movement out of the corner of her eye. "Let's go and see if we have plans for tomorrow. Coming?"

Keith nodded to Laurie as she threw a glance over her shoulder while she walked away from him.

Reuben had a hard time getting a word in edgewise while the kids grilled him with a multitude of questions. Ultimately it was shared that they would be appearing on the Tonight Show and would be recording the next afternoon. Along with that, they had gotten requests from Mike Douglas, Phil Donahue and Dinah Shore. Their next few days were full of show recordings and more radio interviews. In fact, this time, Shirley had been scheduled for quite a few herself as there just wasn't enough time for Keith to meet the requests received. They were booked solid for Thursday and Friday.

"Keith, do you think we could finish up the last of the recording items on Saturday?" Reuben asked before heading back to his own room.

"What?" Keith had mentally drifted away from the planning going on around him and had to pull himself back to the present. "Oh, yeah, I guess so. It'll be a long day, but I think we could do it. Why?"

"Well, we'll need Sunday to drive back home, so that leaves Saturday what with everything else going on for the next two days." Reuben reminded him.

"Right." Keith studied the floor for a second and then suggested something he was dreading because all of a sudden his body craved more sleep. "Why can't we go the studio for a while tonight?"

"Would that help?" Shirley asked. "You for sure can't finish it up on Saturday?"

"Maybe, maybe not. I guess I'd feel better if I spent some time with Wes so that we have a better idea of what's left to do on Saturday. Then we should be in better shape." Keith reasoned.

"I'll call Wes." Reuben said as he headed toward the phone.

"Do you need us to go with you?" Shirley frowned. It was bad enough that Keith had to head out again so soon, but she hated to think about keeping the younger ones up late tonight.

"No, I just need to figure out what needs to be done on Saturday." Keith assured her.

"Alright, but don't stay too late." Shirley said knowing that Keith would ultimately stay as late as he needed to regardless of what she said.

"I won't." Came the expected answer.

xoxo

Thursday and Friday had been a blur for all of them with Keith wanting to kill Danny only once which must have been a record.

It had happened when they were recording the Tonight Show on Friday afternoon. They'd just gotten done performing 'I Think I Love You' and Johnny had come over to chat with them while they stayed by their instruments. Shirley had walked out from behind her keyboards and had been standing next to Keith with Danny slightly behind them.

Johnny had begun to ask them questions about what it had felt like to win the Grammy, what they'd be doing next, whether or not it had all sunk in yet and other questions that they'd expected. All was going as planned when Johnny had asked the question that had ended up with Danny embarrassing Keith.

"So, you're, what, sixteen, seventeen years old?" Johnny addressed the question to Keith.

"I'm sixteen." Keith admitted without feeling the compulsion to add that he was less than a month away from seventeen like teenagers normally did.

"He'll be seventeen in less than a month." Shirley helpfully added and a scream went up from the teenagers in the audience causing Johnny to throw a startled look over his shoulder to make sure he wasn't being rushed by the over-excited girls.

"So, how does it feel to be so young and already having won a Grammy?" Johnny continued while still throwing looks over his shoulder.

"It's groovy actually." Keith admitted with a grin trying to ignore the intermittent screams that had become such a normal part of his life.

"That's an understatement." Johnny commiserated.

"Probably." Keith shrugged his agreement.

"So, do you think it'll help you with the ladies?" Johnny winked at him while an audible sigh could be heard from the audience.

"He doesn't need it." Danny mumbled behind them.

Keith ignored him and answered instead, "I wouldn't know. I haven't seen much of anyone other than my family for a couple of weeks now."

"Oh, come on, not at all those pre and post award parties? You had to have met some ladies at those parties." Johnny pushed gently.

"Well, sure. But they all just congratulated me on being nominated or at the post show party, for winning." Keith tried to side step the fact that he'd been propositioned by women who were old enough to be his mother as well as several closer to his age. That was not something he cared to share with the general public.

"That's a big fat lie." Danny mumbled behind him again. Keith's smile was becoming more forced as Danny's words, though not heard by anyone else because his microphone had been turned off, were definitely catching Johnny's attention.

"So, just how popular is your brother with the ladies?" Johnny turned directly to Danny with the question.

Danny was just about to share all kinds of private stories about Keith's experiences since they'd become famous when he received a warning look from his mother. He glanced off stage to find Reuben glaring holes into him too. He quickly recalculated his answer.

"Well, he receives more fan mail than anyone else." Danny said lamely.

"That's it?" At Danny's quick nod, Johnny turned back to Keith. "Just how much fan mail is more than anyone else?"

"I'm not altogether sure. Most of that is handled by our manager." Keith tried to side step the question again.

"Oh, come on, give me a number." Johnny prodded.

"It's a few." Keith hedged.

"A few thousand." Danny mumbled but quickly pushed his lips tightly together.

"Did you say a few hundred?" Johnny seemed surprised by the number even having heard it wrong.

"Who me? No, I didn't say a few hundred." Danny quickly and honestly agreed.

Johnny saw the honesty reflected on Danny's face and realized he'd misunderstood him. "Did you say a few thousand?"

Danny threw a look of guilt at his mother and then nodded only slightly. He just wasn't able to lie not under the watchful eye of his mother. He knew the consequences of lying were worse than embarrassing his brother.

"Wow, a few thousand." Johnny confirmed while Keith squirmed. "What do they say?"

"That all depends." Keith could feel his face getting warm. He would gladly crawl into a hole. He loved women, but he knew that it would be harder to get dates if they knew they had so much competition. Well, that wasn't exactly true. They didn't have competition as he rarely met anyone who wrote him letters, but they might think they had competition and that was a bad thing.

"On what?" Johnny pushed.

"On how old they are." Danny piped in causing Keith to finally acknowledge Danny. Only Danny had wished he'd continue to ignore him. Keith had thrown him a look that said he was going to pay and pay dearly for that one.

"Oh ho!" Johnny couldn't hide his reaction. He loved a great joke and that one had been truly funny considering it came from the mouth of a ten year old.

He knew the audience and the viewing public would never hear what Danny had said, but Keith's reaction was caught on tape. He had no desire to continue to embarrass the young man, so Johnny kindly and quickly covered.

"So, Shirley, what's it like to raise impressionable young kids in the entertainment industry?" Johnny kept an eye on Keith out of the corner of his eye while he continued to question his pretty mother. He'd have loved to continue the conversation with the young man, but knew that as an underage young man, it was wisest to avoid those types of conversations; especially on television – even late night television. Something told him it would be too risqué.

xoxo

By the time the family headed back to the green room after their performance, Keith was not only angry, but lightheaded. He'd been avoiding food as best he could, knowing that it had been making him queasy. Unfortunately for him, his lack of food appeared to be causing him a whole new problem.

As he advanced on Danny with blood in his eyes, he had to stop and grab the wall for support.

"Keith? Are you alright?" Laurie who was standing next to Danny with a grin knowing that Keith was going to pound him into the ground before their mother could join them, watched as Keith stopped, closed his eyes and grabbed the wall.

He didn't answer right away and she watched beads of sweat form on his upper lip. She quickly moved to stand right next to him, afraid that he might just fall over. "Keith!" She whispered again urgently.

After another couple of seconds, he opened his eyes and looked at her. His eyes took a moment to focus. When he saw the concern on her face, he smiled tightly and said quietly, "I'm fine."

"You are not fine, Keith Partridge." Laurie continued to talk in a whisper because Keith had.

Danny inched forward, worried that Keith might be setting a trap, but wanting to catch their conversation.

"Laurie, I said I was fine and I am. Let it go." Keith whispered while looking over her shoulder and seeing his mom come in the room.

"I should tell mom." Laurie thought out loud.

"No, don't. She'll blow it all out of proportion." Keith reasoned.

"Blow what all out of proportion?" Danny said loudly knowing that his mom would come over to find out what he was talking about.

He quickly stepped away from Keith knowing that he had just made his brother even angrier with him.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

It had taken some quick talking on Keith's part and a pleading look at Laurie to back him up before his mom appeared to let it drop; or so he'd thought.

Shirley had put her hand on her son's forehead and thought he felt a bit warm. She'd have said he looked pale, but it was impossible to tell under the stage make-up.

"We're going back to the hotel as soon as we've changed. You are eating dinner and going straight to bed." Shirley announced to her son.

"Mom, I'm not a 5 year old." Keith reminded her.

"You will do what I say or we head home tomorrow." Shirley threatened.

"Fine, I'll go to bed early." Keith assured her and then pushed himself away from the wall with a small prayer that the room would stay upright. It did.

He sighed a quiet sigh of relief and went to change back into his street clothes. He'd take the make-up off after he knew she wouldn't be watching him so closely. He knew darn well she would notice that he was pale.

Keith figured he had a touch of something, but he just needed to make it a little over one more day and he was home free. Reuben had been right – they needed to take advantage of this added publicity to take them to the next level. It was a shot they wouldn't likely have again. The record needed to be completed. No little bug was going to keep him down.

When they got back to the hotel, they discovered that their fans had finally figured out in which hotel they had taken up residence. There was a throng of teenagers behind barriers waiting to scream every time a vehicle pulled up to the hotel entrance.

When the family limo dropped them off at the hotel, a scream of recognition went up as soon as Danny hopped from the limo. When Keith finally emerged, the screams rose to a level that made his head begin to pound all over again. He waved weakly, but didn't even attempt to meet any of them or sign autographs. He'd caught the warning look from his mother and just turned to head up to the room.

He heard the murmur of disappointment follow him, but he was just too tired to do anything about it.

xoxo

Keith ate as much as he possibly could at dinner to appease his mother. Unfortunately, he regretted it less than an hour later. Thankfully, they had gotten back early enough that the rest of the family had headed out to an early evening movie. He had the place to himself.

He barely made it to the bathroom before his dinner made a return appearance.

After he had purged his stomach of all its contents, he sat weakly against the wall trying to gather his strength to get back into bed. He needed to be there when his family returned. He just hoped he would be deeply asleep so that he didn't have a return of his most recent attack.

Sleep, that's all he needed. That was his cure all.

He took a deep breath and forced himself up from the floor. He practically staggered over to the bed and fell in pulling the covers over his suddenly shivering body.

One more day. He kept repeating the mantra to himself while he willed his body to relax so that he could fall asleep.

When Shirley looked in on him after the movie had ended, she found him sound asleep. She rested her hand gently on his forehead and thought he felt a little warm. She wasn't sure if it was just because he was bundled up in his blankets or if he was running a fever. She would watch him closely the next day but couldn't help but be glad that they were leaving for home on Sunday.

This three ring circus was almost over.

Oh, she knew how important this two week period had been to their continued success in the music industry, she just hadn't liked what she guessed it had been doing to her oldest. He'd run himself ragged and, if she didn't miss her mark, had made himself physically ill. He had pushed his body so hard, that it had finally shut down.

xoxo

The day at the studio started early and went on for a very long time. Chris and Tracy had gotten several breaks, escorted by their grandparents, but the rest of them had stayed for the whole day.

It had become obvious to everyone that Keith was officially sick when he had run from the room as soon as lunch had been brought in.

Shirley had gone into the men's room, not caring that she shouldn't be in there.

She'd found Keith losing what little he had eaten for breakfast. The spasms had continued until there was nothing left to purge. She'd stood behind him, running her hand over his back in comfort and worrying silently.

When he finally sat back and leaned weakly against the stall wall, Shirley walked over to grab some paper towel. She ran it under the cold water and went back to cool Keith's heated face and neck.

"Feeling better?" She asked gently.

"Yeah, a little." Keith whispered hoarsely.

"Do you think you can get up?" At Keith's one-eyed look she explained. "I'd rather you not be sitting on this floor."

Keith couldn't stop the small smile from appearing. It was pretty gross to be sitting on the floor of a public bathroom. Thankfully it appeared relatively clean.

"Yeah, I can get up." Keith's voice was returning to normal. Good thing too, he had some tracks to lay down.

Shirley stayed close as her son stood, but continued to lean against the wall. She wanted to be there to catch him if he started to fall.

"Can you make sure that all the food is gone before I go back in there?" Keith suggested. The smell had been what had set him off. Normally he loved Chinese food, but today, not so much.

"Keith, you can't seriously expect to keep going today." Shirley said in exasperation.

"Yeah, I can. We only have one more song to finish. How long can that take?" Keith said as his strength began to return.

"Knowing you, too long." Shirley reminded him of his perfectionist tendencies.

"Mom, please?" Keith kept his request short and sweet. The less talking he did the better.

"You'll let me know if you're over-doing it?" Shirley asked, knowing the answer he'd give but that it was likely a fib.

"I will." Keith assured her.

"Alright, let's get you to a chair and I'll make sure that lunch is over." Shirley walked him out of the restroom and left him in the hallway while she walked back into the studio.

"How is he?" Reuben asked, concerned about his star.

"He's probably got the flu." Shirley told him.

"How bad? Should I reschedule?" Reuben started calculating how much time it would take to reschedule the recording session.

"Not bad enough that he doesn't want to continue." Shirley appreciated Reuben's willingness to reschedule. Reuben truly did have her family's best interest at heart even though he'd been responsible for Keith's ridiculous schedule over the past two weeks which had likely brought on this illness to begin with. She couldn't decide whether to blame him or thank him for helping them make it to where they were.

"Is that wise?" Reuben had gone into worrier mode.

"Probably not, but you know how stubborn he is. I'm supposed to get all of the food removed from the room before he comes back." Shirley said as she began to gather the scattered boxes. In her worry, she forgot that she hadn't eaten any lunch herself.

"Yeah, I do." Reuben saw it as a blessing and a curse. He loved that Keith worked harder to get where he was than some people twice his age. He also cursed that Keith worked so hard he could make himself sick. It was something he would have to watch in the future. "Here let me help."

As they finished cleaning up the lunch that everyone else had enjoyed, Danny stopped them from grabbing the fortune cookies.

"Wait, we have to each take one and read our fortune." Danny saw the looks of impatience on everyone's faces and continued. "We have to; there's a law or something. Isn't there?"

"I doubt it, but go ahead." Shirley smiled at Danny's usually logical self, turning whimsical.

"Ok, everyone take one. I'll go first." Danny quickly broke his cookie and read. "You will find a bushel of money."

At his satisfied smirk, they all couldn't help but laugh.

"Only you, Danny, could have gotten that fortune." Laurie ruffled Danny's hair and broke open her cookie. "Mine says, it could be better but it's good enough."

"Now that's more like the fortune cookies I remember. Vague and covering anyone who opens it." Reuben turned to Shirley as she broke her cookie open.

"Your family is young, gifted and attractive." Shirley read with humor.

"Why thank you, mom. I agree wholeheartedly." Danny grinned. "See Mr. Kincaid, that cookie was very specific and fit perfectly; like mine did."

"Call me when you find that bushel of money." Reuben joked back and then thought better of what he'd said. "On second thought, don't call. Don't ever call me. Your timing is awful."

"Alright, Reuben, your turn." Laurie prodded.

"You should enhance your feminine side at this time." Reuben read and then regretted not reading it to himself before he read it out loud. Danny almost fell off his chair he was laughing so hard.

"Yeah, maybe you should ask to borrow mom's fall from the other day. You'd look so pretty with long hair." Danny cackled.

"Why me?" Reuben said as he glanced toward the ceiling.

Shirley found herself laughing with Laurie and Danny, momentarily forgetting her worry about Keith.

"Alright, last one." Danny said when he could finally talk again. "This one would have been Keith's. You will be unusually successful in an entertainment career."

"I like that one." Reuben quickly agreed. What could be bad about someone you manage being prophesied to have a successful career?

"So, in other words, all of them are true. Even yours Mr. Kincaid." Danny started laughing again.

"Alright, enough. Let's get this stuff put away. I want to get Keith back to the hotel as soon as possible and he won't leave until we're done." Shirley picked up the bag with the left-overs and started toward the door.

"Hold on, Shirl. I'll throw it out in the dumpster." Reuben offered.

"Thank you Reuben. I'll go and get Keith." Shirley handed the bag over and they went opposite ways outside the door.

She found Keith sitting in the chair with his eyes closed.

"Honey?" Shirley said quietly. If he was sleeping, she didn't want to wake him.

"Ready for me?" Keith answered right away.

"Yes, we are." Shirley watched him open his eyes, take a deep breath and push himself up from the chair. She rushed over as he swayed slightly. She put her arm around him and led him toward the studio.

Keith stopped as soon as he walked through the door. The food might be gone, but the scent lingered on. He took several low shallow breaths through his mouth, fighting the nausea that threatened to take over.

"I'm fine." He said knowing that his mother was just about to ask him how he was doing. "Let's just get this over with."

It was the first time he had used those words in conjunction with recording. Usually he hated their time in the studio to end.

xoxo

The final song they were recording was "I'll Meet You Halfway". Unfortunately for Keith, it was a longer song than many of their other ones. He sang it more than a half dozen times before he was even remotely happy with it; and then again as many times before he finally set down his headphones and agreed with Wes that it was 'good to go'.

Shirley had glanced at her watch to see that they'd missed the dinner hour and were well into the evening.

Reuben had taken Laurie and Danny back to the hotel more than two hours ago to meet up with her parents and Chris and Tracy. Laurie had offered to start packing them up for the return trip in the morning. Shirley had gratefully agreed. She knew that with Laurie and her mother in charge, things would go smoothly.

Reuben offered to stay and make sure all of their instruments made it safely packed onto the bus and then would bring it back to the hotel. They no longer needed to guard their location as it had already slipped out.

Shirley drove Keith back to the hotel in Reuben's car while Keith slouched down in the seat and appeared to take a nap. He'd coughed a couple of times leading Shirley to believe that he was definitely suffering from the flu. He'd side-stepped her every time she'd tried to check his temperature so she wasn't positive that he was running a fever, but as of right now, he was quite flushed.

Oh, why did he have to be so stubborn and push himself so hard?

Reuben had called the hotel and worked it out so that Shirley could pull unnoticed into their underground garage, thereby bypassing the throng of fans at the front. Keith opened his eyes when Shirley pulled it into a parking space. He glanced at her in surprise.

"It's an underground garage; under the hotel." Shirley answered the question in his eyes. "Convenient, wouldn't you say?"

Keith just nodded. His nausea was back and he didn't want to chance opening his mouth. He got slowly from the car and followed his mom to the elevator. All he wanted now was a bed. His head was pounding, he was freezing and he was struggling to not regurgitate the tea he'd drunk to keep his throat lubricated while he was singing.

He was never so glad to see their suite door just steps away. His mother unlocked the door and waited for Keith to step inside before her. He stopped as soon as he cleared the portal and Shirley heard him moan softly. She closed the door and went to stand beside him.

It was then that she noticed Aimee sitting on the sofa next to Laurie chatting happily.

"Oh, hi mom, Keith. Look who's here." Laurie said with false cheer. She had tried unsuccessfully to get Aimee to leave before they got back, but she hadn't been there long and had told Laurie she needed to talk to her mother.

"Hi Aimee. What brings you here?" Shirley put a smile on her face.

"Oh, I have some news to share. Hi Keith." She said taking her first good look at him. He didn't look so hot. Well, actually, that wasn't quite true. He was still 'hot' in a 'way too good looking' kind of hot, but he looked a bit under the weather. There were dark circles under his eyes and his eyes didn't have that usual sparkle. They were flat and tired.

"Aimee." Keith nodded and then looked at his mom for help. He just wanted to be gone; not spend time with a reporter.

"Keith, why don't you go and start your packing. I'll find out what brings Aimee here." Shirley pushed Keith toward his bedroom with a plausible excuse for why he would leave the room.

"Sure, mom." Keith gratefully exited the room.

"So, what's your news?" Shirley watched Keith until he closed the door behind himself and then turned back to Aimee.

"My editor decided to open an office in San Francisco. There's so much going on with the music scene up there since Monterrey and well, your family is up there." Aimee stopped her rambling and decided to just say what she came to say. "In other words, I'm being transferred and I've been assigned to do more stories about The Partridge Family for my magazine. Maybe even a couple of editions dedicated solely to you."

"Oh." Shirley said. The thought stunned her for a moment. Did she want that kind of intrusion into their lives? Did they need that much exposure? Could she keep their lives normal if they were constantly being watched, photographed, interviewed and all around intruded upon?

"I promise to only stop by after I've made an appointment." Aimee immediately noticed Shirley's reticence.

"I'll need to discuss this with Reuben." Shirley hedged. Even with appointments, she'd still be there more often than they were used to.

Maybe winning the Awards hadn't been a good thing. Maybe they should have stayed only slightly famous. Oh, who was she kidding, this was what Keith and the rest of the kids wanted. They wanted to be successful.

"I completely understand. I don't want to be an intrusion. I'd rather you think of me as a family friend." Aimee suggested but saw the doubt flash across Shirley's face. "Well, maybe friend is too strong a word. I can go back and tell my editor that you said no."

"Aimee, wait." Shirley stopped Aimee's walk to the door. "Please, give me some time to let this sink in. I'm not sure I want my kids to have this much exposure."

"I understand. We can talk once you've had a chance to think it over." Aimee offered.

"We leave tomorrow. Why don't you stop back in the morning and I'll let you know what I think." Shirley truly liked this reporter which was saying something. Most reporters were only out for a story. They weren't necessarily there for the truth.

"Sure. I'll stop by around 9:00, sound alright?" Aimee watched Shirley's head nod her acceptance. "I really am sorry about springing this on you without notice."

"Good night Aimee." Shirley said as she closed the door behind her and leaned her forehead against the closed door.

"You better go check on Keith. Danny knows why Aimee was here and he's very excited about it. Keith isn't likely getting the rest he needs." Laurie suggested after putting her hand on her mother's shoulder.

"Thanks honey. What would I do without you?" Shirley smiled at her daughter's thoughtfulness.

"Let's hope you never have to find out." Laurie said to her mother's departing back.

xoxo

It was fortuitous that Aimee showed up the next morning. They hadn't realized how large the crowd had grown and were now trying to figure out how to get the obviously sick Keith through the gauntlet of fans without them knowing he was sick.

He'd tried eating a little dry toast at his mother's urging and it had made its reappearance within a few minutes. Keith was now lying on his bed willing himself to fall asleep so he could leave his miserable existence for a short while.

"Reuben, I really don't want to have to make him face that crowd. He's just not up to it." Shirley said quietly.

The whole suite had a hushed tone to it. Keith's brothers and sisters were all being strangely considerate of his illness.

"Well, he can ride in my car with me. It's in the underground garage." Reuben reminded her.

"Yes, but that will only likely send the paparazzi into a frenzy looking for Keith." Shirley had seen cars driving madly throughout the city following some famous person or another throughout their time here. And, since his Grammy wins, her son had become a big story for some publications. His picture was apparently selling for more money this week than it had last week. Pictures of him sick would likely sell for even more.

"Not if we can make them think he got on the bus." Reuben said absently while it was obvious he was cooking up a plan to throw them off his scent. "We just need a decoy…."

Reuben looked at the likely candidates around the room. Danny was too short and, well, not thin enough. Laurie was the right size, but her absence would be conspicuous. Shirley's parents were out – her father was too large and her mother was too short. Who could they use? Maybe one of the bellboys.

"Laurie, could you get that?" Shirley asked when they heard a knock at the door.

"Hi Aimee." Laurie greeted as she invited the young reporter in the room.

"Oh, Aimee, I completely forgot you were coming back this morning." Shirley said and then turned to Reuben to bring him up to speed.

xoxo

Keith was lying on the back seat of Reuben's car as he inched it out of the parking garage. As soon as Keith saw daylight, he pulled the blanket over his head as instructed.

The best prepared paparazzi recognized Reuben right away and rushed the car, but seeing that he was alone they quickly moved back to the front of the hotel as the rest of the family had apparently decided to make an appearance. The crowd erupted in screams.

Sandwiched in between his family members, walked the person who everyone assumed was Keith. He had on casual clothes, a big jacket, a hat and sunglasses. They made a mad dash for the bus and Shirley pulled the door closed behind them throwing a jaunty wave to anyone watching. Their maneuver had taken place quickly. It had to be quick or someone may have noticed that Keith had very feminine hips and lumps on his chest that hadn't been there before.

Once they were sure they weren't being followed, Aimee pulled off her hastily donned disguise and let her blond hair tumble around her shoulders, giggling the whole time.

"That was fun." Aimee struggled to control her laughter.

"I think it worked too." Laurie laughed too. "How can we thank you?"

"You already have. By agreeing to give me regular interviews once you're back home. I get to keep my job and you get added exposure." Aimee reminded them of their agreement. "This'll make a great story a couple of months down the road when Keith is back performing. It'll be safe to write about then."

"Thanks for keeping a lid on this Aimee. We all know that if people knew Keith was sick right now, they'd suspect something that wasn't true." Shirley said while looking at the grinning reporter through the mirror above her head.

"You mean, 'Young star strung out on drugs' or 'Underage Partridge parties too hard'." Aimee threw out some possible headlines.

"Yeah, just like that." Danny rolled his eyes at Aimee's ability to come up with such dramatic titles so quickly. "Not like you've put any thought into it."

"Not that you'll believe me, but I haven't. Those are just some my fellow journalism majors came up with while we sat around drinking a few beers one night." Aimee shared.

"I wonder how Keith and Reuben are doing?" Laurie was worried about her older brother though she'd rather he didn't know it.

"I'm sure they're fine. They'll beat us home because we have to drop Aimee at the magazine offices." Shirley agreed and pressed her foot on the accelerator in hopes that Keith wouldn't be home too long alone. He was too sick to be alone.

xoxo

"You sure you'll be ok?" Reuben asked after walking Keith into the house.

It was quiet and dark until Keith flipped the switch inside the door.

"Go home Reuben. I'm just going to head upstairs and go to bed." Keith assured him.

Keith wasted no time heading up to his bedroom. He'd slept most of the drive for which he was grateful. His stomach was quiet only when he slept. Just before drifting off to sleep, he wondered how such a high could fall so quickly to such a low. One day he was flying high, having won three awards at the Grammy's. The next day he's flat on his back hoping for the oblivion of sleep. Talk about your roller coaster rides.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"Good to have you back, Partridge!" Skizzy said as he came up behind Keith and thumped him on the back.

Keith fought the urge to cough. His lungs still weren't fully recovered and Skizzy's pounding on his back had given him the urge to try to purge more of the disgusting mucus that had taken up residence in his lungs.

He swallowed hard and croaked, "Thanks man, it's good to be back."

"Woah, you don't sound so great. Still under the weather?" Skizzy said with concern.

"Nah, I'm fine. You just hit me a little harder than you thought." Keith tried forcing a more normal voice out. He'd had to do the same thing for his mother this morning or she'd never have let him come to school. He was sick of the inside of his bedroom. It was all he'd seen for about a week.

After the Grammy awards, he'd come down with a laundry list of illnesses. All the things that his mother had worried about had come true. His lack of rest for the two weeks that he'd pushed himself so hard had come back to haunt him.

First he'd gotten the flu. It had started as a high fever, chills, body aches and an inability to keep anything down. Once he thought he'd had that licked he was so weak from lack of food that bronchitis had set in. He'd been coughing so much lately, he thought he just might have pulled a muscle. The bronchitis had garnered a trip to the doctor and antibiotics with a side of bed rest.

For the first three days, he hadn't fought it. He'd felt like death warmed over, so staying in bed hadn't been a problem. The last three days, though, had been sheer torture. He'd come just short of begging to go to school on Friday, but his mom had reasoned that one more day of missed school wouldn't hurt him and he could go back on Monday after the long weekend.

Laurie had been bringing his homework home and while he wasn't sleeping, he'd been catching up. He'd need to stay after school for the next two days for make up tests, but after that, he'd be back on track.

Who'd have thought that something so great could turn into something so bad? The Grammy nominations and wins had been just about as high of a high as he'd ever experienced. Too bad he'd been so sick so soon after to not fully enjoy it.

He'd talked to a few of his friends and Carol on the phone, but other than that, since he'd been back home he hadn't seen anyone other than family and occasionally Reuben.

"Hey, Partridge!" Gordy had just rounded the corner and advanced on them quickly. Keith quickly ducked the hand that had come out to slap him on the back in welcome.

"Watch it! He's delicate." Skizzy cautioned.

"Delicate my…." Keith started and then just let the phrase drop.

"Well, alright, delicate may not have been the right word. How's 'still recovering'?" Skizzy offered.

"Better." Keith smiled his appreciation of Skizzy's willingness to change his description.

"Man, you still sound pretty hoarse." Gordy said after hearing Keith's lower than normal voice.

"No problem. We're not going into the studio for a while now." Keith shrugged.

"Suppose the girls will find his lower voice sexy? It sounds kinda like Barry White?" Skizzy teased.

"Oh great, that's all we need. We can't keep the girls off of him already." Gordy continued the teasing.

It was a good thing Keith, Skizzy and Gordy had been friends for so long. After Keith and his family had made it big, the girls falling all over Keith could have been a bone of contention with his friends. Instead, they realized that the more girls that hung around Keith meant they had opportunities with these same girls.

"Get your sticks out boys, I may need the help." Keith joked back knowing that his voice sounded nothing like Barry White. A croaking toad maybe, but Barry White? No way.

"Man, it's great to have you back. Ready for Mrs. Damien's english test?" Gordy reminded everyone of the school day ahead of them.

"I get a break. I don't have to take it until tomorrow. I get Mrs. Hanson's history test today instead." Keith grimaced. He couldn't wait until he was caught up.

"So what are you doing while we take the test?" Skizzy asked as they all started walking toward their first class.

"I get to go to the library and work on some Trig homework." Keith grinned at the thought.

"First time I've seen you happy about going to the library." Skizzy noted.

"Oh, I get it." Gordy noticed the wicked gleam in Keith's eyes and put two and two together; they were talking math after all. "You're being tutored by Carol?"

"Mhmm." Keith hummed in appreciation of getting to spend time with the girl who he'd attempted to start a relationship with before he'd left for the Grammy Awards.

"Oh, you dog. How do you manage to get so lucky?" Skizzy fell back against the wall in appreciation of his friend's bad luck gone good.

Keith shrugged but couldn't hold back his grin. "Good clean living?" He said without much conviction.

"Yeah, right." Gordy scoffed at Keith's description.

"Jealous?" Keith threw over his shoulder.

"You bet I am. Carol's a knockout and you know it. Besides that, she's a year older." Skizzy reminded him of all the reasons why he had every right to be jealous.

xoxo

Laurie had been back in school for a week already and the Grammy buzz had seemed to settle down. She'd been inundated with congratulations every day in the halls and in classes. She was a little tired of saying 'thank you'. Not that she'd have returned the awards, it's just that how many times could you say thank you and not have it start sounding insincere. She really was grateful; it's just that it was getting a little old.

She'd left Keith at his locker with Skizzy headed in his direction. She knew that he'd spend his day with his friends and that she likely wouldn't see him again until they headed home. She sure hoped he was recovered enough to make it through the day.

He still looked tired to her and he'd done nothing but sleep for almost a week. It was all their mother had allowed him to do. Well, that and noodle around on his guitar. She'd even outlawed him from writing any notes down on paper. When he'd tried arguing, she'd threatened to not allow the guitar either.

Laurie had laughed at Keith's defeated look. He was too tired to fight her and he knew it. Poor guy.

"Hi Laurie!" Cindy Brown, one of Laurie's best friends walked up.

"Hey Cindy." Laurie greeted in return.

"I heard through the grapevine that Keith is back in school." Cindy grinned.

Even if he wasn't around, one always knew if Keith was in school. There was a buzz from most of the female population that watched his every move with interest.

"Yeah he is. He's still not back to his usual self, but he's a lot better than last week." Laurie didn't even bother acknowledging Cindy's source.

"Did you hear that George and Linda broke up?" Cindy quickly changed the subject. She'd learned long ago that Laurie would only talk about her brother for so long. Her closest friends knew that Laurie loved her brother, but that he was not the only interest she had – unlike some other females in their school – in the world.

"No, I hadn't heard that one. What happened? Linda find out about Betty?" Laurie wasn't big on gossip, but every now and then she couldn't help but get pulled in.

"You could say that; she walked in on their date at the taco stand." Cindy had leaned in for the big reveal.

"He took her to the taco stand?" At Cindy's confirming nod Laurie continued in disbelief, "Well, if the fool takes her to such a public place how in the world did he not expect Linda to find out?"

"We all know George isn't the sharpest crayon in the box." Cindy laughed as Laurie slammed her locker closed and they headed to class.

xoxo

"Oh, come on Carol. No one's around." Keith urged in Carol's ear.

"Keith, stop it." Carol whispered back in an urgent voice. She was quickly losing her will to battle his wandering right hand. "Mr. Klitzke could be back any second."

"You know it will take him at least 10 minutes to make it back here." Keith reminded Carol of the librarian's normal pattern through the school's library.

They'd found a secluded table behind a shelf of books. The table that all couples who were lucky enough to have the same study period would fight over every time. It was common courtesy to leave without a word if the treasured spot was already taken by a couple involved in each other. Why the school never removed the table no one really knew.

Carol shivered when Keith nuzzled her neck just below her left ear.

Keith could feel her resolve slipping and he redoubled his efforts. Within 30 seconds, he felt her head turning and just as quickly, their lips had locked.

Ah, this was what he'd missed. Kissing a girl. He could officially believe that life was back to normal.

Within moments of beginning the kiss, Keith was no longer the one who was leaning toward Carol's chair. She had taken the lead and had pressed him back into his seat and was soon on the edge of her own seat. As she felt her chair begin to tilt when she got too close to the edge, she abandoned it and stood up without losing contact with Keith's lips. Her actions caused Keith's head to fall back in order to maintain contact. The odd angle and his lack of breath for the duration of the kiss caused him to pull a deep breath into his lungs when Carol finally pulled back to catch her own breath.

The deep breath was too much for his still not fully empty lungs. He began to cough; and once he'd started, he couldn't stop.

"Oh, god, Keith, are you alright?" Carol was immediately contrite.

Keith waved a hand at her as he struggled to cough and breathe at the same time. His lungs felt like he'd just run up a steep hill. They burned.

Carol stood there unsure of what to do. Tears of sympathy had come to her eyes. Just listening to him cough made her realize how sick he'd truly been.

She'd talked to him a few times on the phone, but never for very long. He'd sounded rough, but she'd never heard him cough. This was terrible.

After a few minutes, Keith finally won out on the urge to continue coughing. When he finally caught his breath he realized that he'd gotten quite an audience. Mr. Kitzke, along with several students who'd been near enough to hear his coughing fit start, were all watching with concern.

"I'm fine." Keith told them. "Really." He added when no one seemed to want to leave.

"Alright, everyone back to your own area." Mr. Klitzke said and shooed everyone away. "You're sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." Keith smiled a little weakly. That had really worn him out. Good thing he only had a couple of more hours before he could go home. Oh wait, he still had his make-up test.

Carol watched him breathe deeply with his eyes closed as if concentrating on not coughing again. She looked at him really closely. He looked tired. After a week of bed rest, he still had dark rings under his eyes. He should look completely rested, but he didn't.

"What?" Keith said after opening his eyes and seeing her looking at him with sympathy.

"You just look so tired." Carol whispered.

"I'm fine. Really." Keith assured her again and then decided to show her instead. "Come back here and I'll show you."

Carol hesitated at first, but then saw the wicked gleam in his eyes. She sat back down in her chair and let Keith take the lead this time. She let him set the pace and for some reason, Mr. Klitzke never did come back and check on them. They spent the rest of the hour getting reacquainted with each other.

xoxo

"Watch out, here comes Marvin." Cindy warned Laurie as they sat under a tree waiting for Keith to finish his test. Laurie had promised her mom to wait for him so they could walk home together. She'd also promised to call if Keith was too tired and they needed a ride.

"Well, if it isn't Laurie Partridge." Marvin said smugly.

"Marvin." Laurie said tensely. She had no idea why, but Marvin always picked on her. He was a reporter for the school newspaper who hoped to become the editor when the current one graduated this year. He was in the same class as Laurie, but he had always dreamed big. He was currently the school's number one reporter. He'd broken the story about Laurie and her family starting up their band even before they'd begun to get air play with their first song. It had been quite a scoop for him.

"Heard your brother is back in school." He said leadingly.

Laurie had no idea what he was fishing for, so she just nodded.

"Is he fully recovered from his illness?" Marvin looked down at the two seated girls.

"Pretty much, but why don't you ask him yourself. Here he comes now." Laurie nodded behind him.

"Hey, Marvin." Keith acknowledged Marvin and then turned quickly to Laurie. He was tired and running on fumes. He couldn't wait to get home. "Ready to go?"

"Sure." Laurie sprang up and flipped her notebook closed in the same motion. "See you tomorrow Cindy."

Cindy knew how uncomfortable Marvin could make Laurie and wasn't surprised by her quick departure. "See ya. Hey, Keith, good to see you back."

"Hi Cindy. It's good to be back." Keith smiled at his sister's friend.

Marvin, sick of being ignored, decided to get back in the conversation. "So, what did you have?"

"What? Why do you ask?" Keith asked.

"Just wondering." Marvin said as innocently as possible.

"Don't answer him. It'll end up in the school paper." Laurie said to Keith but loud enough for Marvin and Cindy to hear.

Keith glanced at Laurie and back at Marvin. "That true?"

"What?" Marvin tried to play dumb, but by the look on Keith's face, he knew he wasn't falling for it. "Probably."

"In that case, no comment." Keith grabbed Laurie's arm and turned to leave. "Cindy, can we walk you part of the way home?"

"Sure." Cindy had no desire to hang around Marvin either. She knew that he would stay to talk to her to find out what she knew.

xoxo

Marvin had tried talking to all of Keith's friends and all of Laurie's friends too. No one was talking. That's what had forced him to approach Laurie directly. He figured he had a better shot of her slipping up and saying something as he never normally talked to Keith at all.

Keith was a year older than him and he wasn't in any of his classes. Laurie was in a couple of classes with him, so at first he'd thought about approaching her about a homework assignment. But, for some reason, every time he got around her, his plans flew out the window. He couldn't seem to help himself.

He could never just walk up and say 'hi'. He always walked up to her and made it sound like she looked down on him. Like Laurie Partridge was royalty and he was one of her lowly subjects. Maybe it's because he felt that way.

She had never done anything to make him feel that way. In fact, she mostly ignored him. It was as if he didn't exist to her.

At least when she was acting all stiff and arrogant around him, she was talking to him.

He sighed as he walked away from the school following the brother and sister duo at a distance. He watched them walk until they turned the corner.

Keith walked slowly and Laurie and Cindy matched their steps to his. He really did look pretty warn out.

Marvin could only guess that Keith did way too much partying during the Grammy parties and was suffering from that Hollywood malady known as 'exhaustion'.

That explanation fit Marvin's preferred scenario. Keith getting the flu and bronchitis, which is what he'd overheard at different times, just wasn't a juicy enough story. How lucky could a reporter get having famous people attending the same school as him?

He'd always known he wanted to get into reporting and he hoped the Partridges helped him get there. He hoped to break a big story on them; one that all of the national papers wanted. If he could do that, he could write his ticket to college and then on to any top notch job he wanted.

He was walking far enough behind them not to draw attention, hiding behind any convenient bush, tree, fence or building.

He watched them pause to wave Cindy down her block but continued on to Sycamore. They passed the park and this is where Marvin decided to drop off his surveillance. Once they were home, he couldn't watch them without being spotted, so he sat down on a secluded bench and started to write his story in his head.

'Local Celebrity Falls Ill', 'Local Heartthrob Sick with Own Heart Ailment', 'Partridge suffers from Bird Flu' and other title ideas flipped through his mind. He discarded all of them. They either didn't carry a modicum of truth or didn't have the right ring to them.

He sat thinking for more than a half an hour when a conversation on the other side of the hedge caught his attention. Two men, or at least he assumed it was two men, were talking in whispers.

"They walked into 698 Sycamore." One said.

"You sure that's where they live?" The other said.

"Well, they just walked in; no key or knocking or anything, so yeah."

"We can't be wrong."

"I'm not wrong."

"Good. Good. That's very good."

"You sure we can't take the girl?"

"What? Why?"

"She's real pretty. Like knock-out gorgeous."

"Yeah?"

"Oh yeah."

"No, no. We talked about this. It has to be the guy."

"But why?"

"Cause he's the one they'll pay for."

"If the girl were mine, I'd pay for her."

"Stan, knock it off. We already decided. The family can't continue to perform without the lead singer and songwriter. It has to be him."

"Well, they need a keyboard player too."

"Yeah, but not as much as the lead singer and songwriter."

"Maybe we should take 'em both."

"Too much trouble."

"Awww, she wouldn't be no trouble."

"Stan, if you don't let it go, I'll make you."

There was no sound for a while and Marvin thought they might have moved on. He was just about to get up when he heard them start talking again. He shrunk back down in his seat praying that they wouldn't discover him.

"You really think we can get a hundred thousand for him?"

"Oh yeah. Easy. I was thinking about upping it to 250 G's."

"It don't look like they have that much. The house is nothing special and there aren't any nice shiny cars."

"Oh, the family might not have the funds, but the record company sure does."

"How do you know they'll pay?"

"Cause that kid is their meal ticket. Did you see how many magazine covers he's been on?"

"Well sure. That's how we decided on him. Well, that and Pete's suggestion."

"Yep, and from everything we've seen so far, Pete was right."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you seen anything going on since the kid was sick?"

"Sure, they've been going to school and stuff."

"No, you idiot. I mean as far as performing. They haven't done a show or anything else while he was sick."

"Oh, I get it."

"It's about time. The Partridge Family is nothing without Keith Partridge. That's why we snag Keith Partridge. That's who the record company will pay to get back. Not some hot lookin' chick that they can replace with another hot lookin' chick"

"Yeah, but don't you think they'd pay to get their daughter back?"

"Didn't you just get done tellin' me the family doesn't look rich? No, if we want lots of money, then we go after Keith. He's the one the record company will pay for."

"Alright, but when? So far we've never seen him alone."

"We wait and we watch."

After waiting a half an hour without sound from the other side of the hedge, Marvin ran away from the park as fast as he could.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Marvin had run the whole way home and was gasping for breath when he flew in the front door, locking it behind him.

He gulped for air but tried to answer his mother's question as to why he was home from school so late.

"Working at the paper mom. See you at dinner." He yelled before running upstairs and flopping down on his bed to think.

Should he go to the police? Would they think he was crazy?

Should he write a story about it in the paper? Who'd believe him? They'd all just think it was a prank.

If he did nothing, Keith Partridge would be kidnapped and held for ransom by two very scary sounding men. Who was he kidding? Two men who sounded scary was not a very good description to give the police. They'd laugh him out of the police station, wouldn't they?

Marvin struggled with what he should do all through dinner in which his parents kept giving him strange looks. They were used to him talking up a storm telling them all the daily events from school. Tonight he was curiously silent.

"Marvin? Is something bothering you?" His father finally asked him.

"What? Me? No, of course not!" Marvin denied vehemently without looking up from his plate.

"Marvin?" His mother said softly. Just her saying his name had him wanting to lay bare his soul. When he looked at her he lost his ability to hide anything from her. She had such a way of bringing the truth out of him. In fact, she was the only one who even suspected that he had a huge crush on Laurie Partridge rather than hating her guts.

"Mom, Dad, I heard something today that I'm not sure what to do about." Marvin started haltingly.

"What is it son? You know you can tell us anything." Marvin's father was bracing for the worst.

"You know how I've been trying to find out what happened to the Partridges while they were in Los Angeles for the Grammy Awards for the school paper." Marvin struggled to actually tell them what had him so worried.

"Yes, we know." Marvin's mother smiled at him gently. She could tell he was nervous. This must have something to do with the lovely Miss Laurie Partridge. Her son was totally smitten.

"Well, I think I got more than I bargained for. If I can believe it, that is." Marvin still wondered if he hadn't fallen asleep and dreamed the whole thing. Just trying to say it out loud made it sound ridiculous.

"Believe what?" Marvin's father set down his fork. The suspense was killing him.

"I heard something. More like someone. Someones. Plotting to kidnap Keith Partridge." Marvin looked from his father to his mother. Both had shocked disbelieving looks on their faces. "I'm crazy right?"

His parents both quickly assured him that he wasn't crazy; a little ambitious and overzealous at times, but not crazy. The last was not said out loud, but his parents shared a look that spoke volumes.

"Marvin, where did you hear this?" His father finally asked.

"In the park near the Partridge house. I had followed them home hoping to either see or hear something for my story. I had gotten nothing. They didn't do anything unusual. In fact, Keith was his usual boring self while Laurie was just her usual stuck up self. So, I gave up and sat down in the park to think about how I could use what I'd uncovered during school today. Everyone is saying that Keith just had the flu and bronchitis, but I was sure it was more. I was trying to come up with titles for my breaking news story when two guys behind this hedge started talking about Keith and Laurie." Marvin watched his parent's faces intently. They appeared to believe him.

"They talked about wanting to take Laurie at first because she's so pretty. And, of course, I could understand that." Marvin went off track much like he always did when Laurie was involved. He quickly pulled himself back when he noticed his mother smile in understanding. "Anyway, they said it had to be Keith because they wanted two hundred and fifty thousand dollars and they knew the only way they could get it is if the record company paid the money."

"Marvin that seems pretty far-fetched." His father pointed out.

"That's why I've been struggling with whether or not to tell anyone. Would anyone believe me?" Marvin looked at his parent's doubtful faces. "Do you believe me?"

"Of course we do." His mother said quickly. Too quickly. It had been automatic and they all knew it. The question was whether or not his parents believed him enough to accompany him to the police station to report it. The decision was made by his father.

"Marvin get your coat. I'll drive you to the police station. We can't let this happen without trying to stop it." His father acted upon those words by getting up from his half finished supper.

"Thank you! For believing in me." Marvin smiled.

xoxo

"Have you seen Marvin all day?" Keith asked Laurie when he saw her between classes.

"No I haven't. And it's a good thing. If I had, I would have given him a piece of my mind. Imagine following us home like that." Laurie was still outraged looking back on it.

They'd spotted him when they'd waved Cindy down Elm Street. Once they knew he was there, they'd known he'd followed them until they were almost home. What a creep!

"Same here." Keith agreed. He had no idea why Marvin was so nasty to Laurie, but it made no sense that he'd follow them home just to get a story. The guy was way to serious about his journalistic bent. "See you after school."

Laurie and Keith parted ways just before the bell sounded telling them they were officially running late for class. They hurried away.

xoxo

Keith was sitting in trig class smiling at Carol whenever she looked his way and reminding himself to talk to her about going on a date on Friday night. They hadn't had a chance since he'd gotten back and he'd forgotten to ask her when they were in the library yesterday. Things had progressed to the 'no time for talk' category way too quickly. Well, maybe not 'too' quickly.

Carol caught him grinning wickedly in remembrance of their tryst when she glanced at him. She read his eyes immediately and blushed a bright shade of red. Her girlfriend sitting next to her glanced at Keith and couldn't hide her own grin. The two were practically fooling around in trig class with their eyes alone. That Keith Partridge was amazing when it came to romancing the girls. He didn't even have to be close enough to touch them to drive them wild.

The P.A. system crackled to life and everyone's attention was drawn immediately. Mid-day announcements were rare and when they did occur, someone was in big trouble.

"Keith Partridge, please report to the principal's office." The school secretary announced to the student body.

Keith actually sat back in surprise. What had he done? He hadn't even been in school long enough to get in trouble. It must have something to do with his make-up tests or something.

He gathered his books and got up while the rest of the class razzed him. Taunts of 'ooh Partridge, you're in trouble' and 'so, Keith, what girl got you in trouble this time' followed him out of the room. He caught a last quick frown from Carol on his way out the door and he just shrugged in answer.

He had no idea what this could be about.

He tensed as he walked down the hallway. He hated the unknown summons. It always made him nervous.

He tensed even further when he saw a policeman just inside the school office doors. Had something happened to someone in his family? If so, why hadn't they called Laurie too? If not that, why the police?

He glanced past the officer and saw his Mom and Reuben sitting in the principal's office through the glass door. Oh man, this could not be good. But why hadn't Laurie been paged?

"Mom?" Keith said as soon as he walked in the door after being motioned to do so by the school secretary.

"Oh Keith!" She said and quickly rose to give him a hug. He automatically returned it while he threw a confused look at Reuben.

"What's going on?" Keith asked really scared now. His mom looked very upset.

"Keith, have a seat." The principal offered.

"No thanks. Someone just tell me what's going on." Keith said while Shirley finally backed off but refused to totally let go of him. She kept her arm around him but moved to stand by his side.

Keith's eyes glanced around the room and noticed another man in a suit standing slightly off to the side and behind the principal's desk. He looked familiar, but Keith couldn't place him.

The silence in the room was deafening. It was like everyone was afraid to speak.

"Reuben?" Keith finally decided to push the person in the room most likely to crack under stress.

"Oh, um, well, Keith we have….um…well it's just.….something's come up….." Reuben stumbled and glanced at the man in the suit. "Detective James."

"Keith, I'm Detective James of the San Pueblo police department." The man stepped forward and spoke seeing that the young man's mother was too upset to talk and his manager had lost the ability to form complete sentences. "We've just received word that there's a kidnapping planned."

"What does that have to do with me?" Keith refused to make the logical leap. It was too far out.

"The kidnapping plot is for you, Keith. They planned to kidnap you and ask your record company for ransom." The detective tried giving him details that would make him believe what they were saying.

"You're kidding, right?" Keith laughed awkwardly. They had to be kidding.

"No, Keith, I'm sorry. He's not kidding." Shirley finally found her voice again. Just seeing that Keith was safe had temporarily inhibited her ability to form words. "We have to keep you safe. We just have to."

"So, what does this mean?" The answer Keith received had him disentangling himself from his mother and plopping down into the chair he'd previously declined.

xoxo

When Keith had heard that it was Marvin who'd reported the 'kidnapping plot' to the police, Keith had argued that it was a hoax. He'd explained that Marvin was always looking for a story having to do with either he or Laurie.

Unfortunately for Keith, the police had said that Marvin's story held some modicum of truth and they weren't about to put his safety at risk.

And, not putting his safety at risk meant that Keith would have bodyguards everywhere he went. Everywhere – except when he was home. Then the bodyguards would wait outside.

It took Keith less than 30 seconds after hearing their plan to realize that his dating life had taken a major hit. Why bother asking Carol out on a date that would include at least two other people? No privacy – no Muldoon's Point – no fun.

xoxo

Keith's life inside a bubble began that same day. He was excused from the rest of the day of classes and Laurie was pulled as well. They headed home to receive instructions from the FBI who had been invited in by the San Pueblo Police. They were too small of a department to give personal protection to one of its citizens while still keeping the peace. Therefore, Keith's bodyguards would actually be members of the San Francisco office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI would arrive in the morning, so the family was on pins and needles waiting for some kind of attack on their home to take place. No one slept well.

Shirley had struggled with what to tell Chris and Tracy, but had eventually decided that they needed to know the truth. Though no one else in the family was considered to be in danger, they all had an agent assigned to them as well. Though they were allowed more privacy than Keith, their lives too would be altered.

Reuben had wanted to keep the kidnapping story from the press but was quickly thwarted by Marvin who could not be silenced having actually broken the story in more ways than one.

Reuben was almost relieved to know it was out there. What story could he have come up with that would have explained the bodyguards? It really was impossible to hide two big hulking men in suits following Keith absolutely everywhere.

The story was the talk of the school after a special edition had been printed overnight so that the students were greeted with the story as soon as they got to school the next day. The buzz was louder than a jet engine.

The only thing Keith could do was put on a smile and act as nonchalant as possible even though he didn't feel the least bit nonchalant. He was just glad that Laurie would be going to and from school with him. The last thing he wanted was for her to be taken instead of him. That would have just killed him.

For the first couple of days, Danny thought having his own personal bodyguard was kind of cool. Once the novelty wore off, though, he too was simply annoyed by the fact that some stranger was watching his every move.

"This is all your fault, you know." Danny threw at Keith while the family sat tensely around the dinner table, no bodyguards in site. They were all relegated to strategic spots outside the house.

"Me?!?" Keith said in surprise though he figured he'd be blamed for this. "It's not like I asked for this ridiculous idea to be believed. Why would anyone want to kidnap me? This is just silly."

Keith had dropped his fork that he'd been using to push the food around on his plate. He had little to no appetite.

"Silly? Silly is a pig wearing striped sox with a polka dot dress. This, this is annoying." Danny informed him.

"Annoying or silly, it doesn't really matter. Your brother is in danger. We are not taking your brother's safety for granted." Shirley tried to use reason to put a stop to this conversation.

"But that's just it. I'm not convinced I am in danger. This could all just be Marvin creating a story to up his reporter credibility." Keith made the same argument he'd made before. He was just as sure it would gain him nothing this time either.

"Much as I dislike Marvin, I don't think he's the kind of boy who would make up a story like this." Laurie said while studying the uneaten food on her own plate. "He's resourceful but I don't think he's malicious."

"I spoke to his parents and they're convinced he's telling the truth." Shirley added setting her own fork down. She looked around the table to see that her pork roast was not a hit with anyone, not even Danny.

"What, you expected his parents to call him a liar?" Keith said bitterly.

"Keith, please, try to understand." Shirley spoke softly, sad that her family's life was being altered so drastically, especially Keith's. But she would do anything, suffer anything to keep her children safe. "I won't risk your life, or that of your brothers and sisters, just because I'm not sure if a young man is telling the truth or not."

Keith watched tears form in his mother's eyes and relented immediately. "I'm sorry mom. I know. I don't blame you for the choices you've had to make."

"Thank you, honey." Shirley whispered around the urge to cry.

"I'm just feeling restless, that's all. I think I'll go out in the garage and see if I can't write out some of my frustration." Keith stood up and walked around the table to kiss his mother on the cheek and whispered to her. "I really am sorry for what I said."

"I know, Keith. It's alright. I understand." Shirley whispered back before she watched him walk through the swinging door.

"He'll be fine, Mom. You'll see." Laurie did her best to help alleviate the sad look she saw on her mother's face as she watched Keith leave the room.

"Alright, everyone. Eat." Shirley said and smiled her thanks at Laurie.

Shirley watched the rest of her kids pick up their forks and do their best to eat something. No one but Laurie realized that Shirley herself was unable to choke down any more of the tasty food.

xoxo

"You can't be alone, not even in the garage, so you'll have to put up with me." The FBI agent said as he followed Keith from the kitchen door to the garage and took up a post just inside the door.

"You're kidding." Keith looked at the man's serious face and shook his head. "No, I can see you're not."

After picking up his guitar and turning his back on the man who, though he didn't exactly stare at Keith, could not hide his presence which Keith felt so strongly that he quickly gave up on trying to write music in the garage. Nothing stopped the creative juices from flowing as fast as a menacing presence. Even if that menacing presence was meant to keep him safe.

"I'll be going back in the house." Keith felt the need to explain his actions as he stood up with his guitar still in hand and headed back into the kitchen.

"What's wrong?" Shirley saw the look of disgust on Keith's face as soon as he entered the kitchen. She and Laurie were standing by the sink cleaning up the dishes from their meal.

"They won't leave me in the garage alone." Keith said in disgust.

"Why not?" Laurie said in surprise.

"Apparently I can never be alone. Guess I'll be up in my room." Keith left them standing their watching his exit.

"He's really miserable, isn't he?" Laurie knew a little about how he felt, but though her life had changed too, it hadn't changed quite as much.

"Yes, he is." Shirley agreed sadly.

"Maybe this will all be over soon. I mean, they have to figure out who they are. Right?" Laurie reasoned.

"I pray for that every day. I just can't take any chances." Shirley reiterated.

"Oh, Mom, of course you can't. He knows that. We all do. This just seems too unreal. I mean, seriously, we're just a family from little San Pueblo. Why would anyone think that we would be worth kidnapping?" Laurie spoke what they were all thinking; what no one could really understand. Their fame just didn't seem at all real to them when they were home. They were the same people they were just a little over a year ago. Just a family that had musical tendencies. No one special.

Yet, special they were. Especially Keith. His musical talents and popularity were worth a lot of money to their record company. And, therefore, his life was worth a lot of money to the record company. Unfortunately for them, some not so nice people had figured that out as well.

xoxo

As Keith walked down the hallways with the constant buzz that hadn't abated since last week following him everywhere he went, he started to think that his life could not be any worse than it was at that very moment. Boy was he wrong.

Keith's dating life was about to go from the frying pan and into the fire. At the after party for the Grammy's, Keith had finally gotten the opportunity to meet Judy Strangis. She'd actually approached him and kissed him on the cheek in congratulations. She and her boyfriend had stayed to chat for quite a while with he and Laurie, but Judy, being a very affectionate person, had stood next to Keith touching him and hugging him often as the conversation went along. Her boyfriend, not the overly jealous type, had not had a problem with any of it.

Unbeknownst to Keith, photographers had snapped more than a few pictures of the four of them having a great time. With just a little extra work, Laurie and Judy's boyfriend were cut out of the pictures making it appear that Keith and Judy had been partying together by themselves.

Slowly but surely, these pictures started to show up in the fan magazines.

It was pointed out to Keith at school by Tina who bearded the dragon by pushing her way past Keith's two bodyguards and shoved the magazine in his face as proof that she'd been right to break up with him.

"I knew it all along, you lying two-timing jerk." Tina said and then stormed away.

"Hard to be two timing you when we were broken up." Keith mumbled to himself while he checked out the photo having never seen it before. He actually looked happy.

It felt like the photo had been taken a hundred years ago.

"I've seen that one too. It's got a great article about John Wayne." Carol said quietly from right behind him. The bodyguards had seen her coming, but already knew that she was the girl currently in Keith's life and had already checked her out knowing she was not a threat. If she had been, she'd have never been allowed to get this close.

"Could you give us a second?" Keith had turned quickly to see Carol's sad face and felt an immediate need to explain. Technically, he'd been dating Carol when the picture was taken, not Tina. If anyone had a right to be mad it was Carol, but so far, she just seemed sad.

"We'll just be over there." Patrick, the younger of his two bodyguards, motioned to a nearby wall. It wasn't far enough away for Keith and Carol to have a private conversation, but at least they weren't being hovered over.

"Carol, will you let me explain?" Keith asked not really expecting she'd give him an affirmative answer.

"I was hoping you would." Carol said reasonably.

"The photo doesn't show everything. Her boyfriend is just outside of the shot and so is Laurie. She just stopped by to say congratulations on our winning. She stayed and talked for a while; that's it. Her boyfriend was there the whole time." Keith saw that his explanation was good enough for Carol. Her face changed from sad to happy in just seconds.

"Is she as pretty in person as she looks on TV?" Carol hugged Keith as she asked the question.

He blanched and wondered how to answer that. 'yes, she's downright gorgeous' or 'no, it's all lighting and camera angles'. He decided on honesty as Carol seemed to be able to handle it.

"Yes, she really is as pretty as she appears on TV and she's equally as nice." When Carol's smile faltered he quickly continued. "But, she's not as beautiful as you nor as understanding."

"Keith Partridge, I don't know whether you're a great liar or just the nicest person I've ever met. Either way, thank you for that." Carol kissed him on the cheek and headed for her next class.

"Smooth. I gotta remember that one." Patrick said as he stepped back beside Keith having heard the whole thing.

Keith just shook his head as he started to walk to his own next class; privacy a thing of the past.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Keith had been either a prisoner in his own home or the center of a convoy everywhere he went for just over a week – two weeks if you included his illness prior to this whole mess. He was officially fed up with the situation.

"Mom, I just want to go out on a real date with Carol." Keith argued while he paced in front of the fireplace.

Shirley, sitting on the couch, watched her son's progress; back and forth. "Honey, I can understand your frustration. But, you'll just have to be patient."

"Patient! You have got to be kidding. I have been nothing but patient. Do you know that Patrick actually watches me use the…..well, I have absolutely no privacy." Keith ran his hands through his hair in frustration leaving some strands standing on end. Shirley smiled at the picture he made. He would have been mortified to have his picture taken right now. He was meticulous about his appearance in public. Good thing he was at home. Keith glanced at her and noticed her slight smile and became incredulous. "You find this humorous?"

Shirley was taken aback by his comment. She hadn't realized that her silly thought had actually brought a smile to her face. In fact, she hadn't smiled much lately herself. "Keith, I definitely do not find this humorous."

She stood up and walked over to him, automatically reaching up to smooth the offending strands of his hair back into place. "They are almost certain that the men who were planning this have given up and gone away. It won't be too much longer and you'll have your own life back."

Keith realized what had brought the slight tilt to his mother's lips and quickly lost his anger. "It cannot be soon enough for me. Or for Carol. Mom, if this keeps up, she's going to start dating other guys."

"Give up waiting for you? Not likely." Shirley said with complete confidence. She knew that her son was quite the catch and that any girl would be crazy to give up her chance to date him simply because some weirdoes were currently making his life impossible.

"Thanks Mom, but that doesn't solve my problem. I still can't take Carol on a date." Keith reminded her of his real problem.

"Why not invite her over here?" Shirley suggested helpfully.

"With Danny around? No way." Keith reminded her of the reasons he rarely brought dates anywhere near the family.

"I could send him over to Punky's for the night." Shirley offered.

"Thanks, but our living room is not the romantic setting I was picturing for our next date." Keith sighed.

"I know it's not Muldoon's Point…." Shirley let her comment drop off as Keith looked at her in surprise. "What, you didn't think I knew the place existed?"

"I guess I hadn't thought about it." Keith admitted. Teenagers were not used to thinking about their parents being at a make-out spot, much less knowing where it was.

"Keith, I know this is really difficult for you. But, please, let the FBI do their jobs and before you know it, your life will be back to normal." Shirley kissed him on the cheek and then leaned back, hoping to get his acceptance of the situation.

"They have until next weekend. I'm calling Carol and asking her out on a date; a date on which Patrick will not be allowed." Keith said firmly and then walked over to the phone.

Shirley smiled at her son's back. If the FBI suspected that the kidnappers were still around, she had some bad news for her son. Not only would Patrick be going on his date with Carol next weekend, but the rest of the San Pueblo police force would be along too, if she had anything to say about it.

xoxo

"Hi Carol, it's Keith." Keith said into the phone after Carol's mom had handed her the phone.

"Oh, hi Keith. How are you?" Carol had wanted so badly to date Keith, but their time together had been limited; first by his absence due to the Grammy Awards and then by this frightening kidnapping threat. If something didn't change soon, she would kidnap him herself just to get him alone.

"Lonely." He said softly into the phone.

Carol heard the longing in his voice and turned away from her watching parents. "I know exactly what you mean."

"My mom just told me that they are close to deciding that the kidnappers have either given up and gone home or were always part of Marvin's imagination." Keith laughed at that last thought. If they were truly made up by Marvin, he had a huge debt to pay.

"Does this mean you're going to lose your shadow before too long?" Carol asked with hope flaming to life in her heart.

"I think so. Patrick will go back to making someone else's life miserable. Hopefully those of criminals; seeing he's so good at it." Keith laughed again. Carol was good for him. He hadn't laughed much lately and he'd already laughed twice while on the phone with her. Well, actually, it wasn't Carol so much as the thought of going out on a date with her that had put him in a good mood.

"Does this mean what I think it does?" Carol asked, bracing for the worst.

"It means that come next weekend, you and I will be going on our second official date. We will that is, if you accept my invitation." Keith realized he hadn't actually asked her. "Carol, would you like to go to the movies next Friday?"

"I would like that, very much." Carol couldn't stop the huge smile from taking over her face. "What's playing?"

"Who cares, it could be a kiddie movie for all I care. I just want to spend some time alone with you." Keith admitted.

"In that case…" Carol watched her mom walk out of the room before finishing. "Let's just skip the movie and head right up to Muldoon's Point."

"I like the way you think and it's a date. I'll pick you up at 7:30." Keith felt a whole lot lighter when he hung up the phone more than a half an hour later.

He and Carol had chatted about anything and everything so long as it had nothing to do with the supposed kidnapping threat.

xoxo

Carol and Keith's date wasn't until the next weekend because the family was performing at a club in San Francisco this coming weekend. It also just so happened to be the weekend that included Keith's 17th birthday. He was ignoring the fact that it was coming up because he'd planned on celebrating with his friends, but so long as this stupid kidnapping threat was still a possibility, that was out of the question. Unbeknownst to Keith, Laurie and his friends had planned a surprise party at the taco stand that was now officially postponed.

In order to perform while the threat was still considered viable, Reuben showed up two days early to go over the logistical issues with Shirley and the FBI. Keith had refused to cancel the date and Shirley had eventually given in when he had pointed out that it was unlikely that anyone would be able to kidnap him while he was onstage. Besides, they hadn't performed since the Grammy awards due to his illnesses and it was time to get back into the swing of things.

Reuben and the FBI had agreed with Keith's assessment and Shirley felt relatively comfortable with the decision – all the way up until it was almost time to go onstage. Keith was nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs.

"Would you stop pacing?" Laurie threw at her brother's retreating back only to be faced with his face as he turned back around for another lap. Keith, Danny and Laurie were currently alone in the outer part of the dressing room while Shirley helped the younger ones finish getting into their costumes.

"Sorry, guess I'm just full of a lot of nervous energy." Keith said as he attempted to stop himself from moving.

"Keith, nothing is going to happen. Well, nothing except another great performance." Laurie smiled encouragingly.

"I know that." Keith said and then realized that sounded egotistical. "The part about nothing happening."

"I knew what you meant." Laurie laughed at him. "Relax or you'll make mom nervous."

"Right." Keith said as he started to turn and walk back down the room before he realized it and stopped himself. "No more pacing."

"Don't worry. Danny and I will keep you safe." Laurie teased.

"Right. I'll fight them off with my superior intelligence and Laurie will dazzle them with her beauty while you run like crazy." Danny added to the humor.

Keith felt a smile tug at his lips at their attempts to coax him out of his nervousness. What was he worried about? He was the one who had assured everyone that a performance was the last place anyone would attempt to take him. He believed that, so why was he more nervous than usual?

Besides, Patrick would throw himself in front of a bullet before he let someone take Keith while he was on duty. The guy was fanatical about his job.

"Danny, Keith doesn't have to run – he just has to hide behind Patrick and he'll be safe." Laurie continued the joke.

"You're just jealous because the bodyguard assigned to you is a middle-aged, balding guy with several extra pounds instead of the young athletic Patrick who you keep making googly eyes at." Danny pointed out having seen Laurie throwing longing glances at Keith's number one bodyguard.

"Daniel Partridge, you do not know what you're talking about." Laurie quickly defended herself.

"Oh really. That wasn't you practically drooling when you first met him?" Danny continued to stick in the knife.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Laurie feigned innocence.

Keith watched the two of them continue their little game and just rolled his eyes before deciding that taking a walk might be a better idea. He needed to get away for a few minutes before his mom came back in the room. If she saw how nervous he was, she'd cancel the show and he didn't want to disappoint the fans. He could hear the crowd starting to fill the showroom. It wouldn't be too long now.

He quietly closed the door behind him while Laurie and Danny continued their animated discussion about whether or not Laurie had a crush on Patrick.

He hadn't gone more than three steps beyond the door before he felt a presence behind him.

"I'm just going to take a peek at the audience." Keith said over his shoulder knowing that Patrick was the presence he felt.

"I'll go with you." Patrick said needlessly. Of course he was going with him. Keith went nowhere unless Patrick was with him.

"Of course you are." Keith mumbled and turned his back on the man who was ever present. It was both comforting and annoying.

Being away from San Pueblo hadn't been as helpful as Keith had hoped. He'd hoped that getting out of the house would help him to forget what was going on. All it had done was make him realize that his every move was documented by someone. The fan magazines all reported on their next concert date.

If you wanted to know where Keith would be, all you had to do was pick up a copy of any one of the teen magazines that were abundantly available.

In fact, Aimee had finally gotten herself moved into an apartment in San Francisco and opened up the new branch of her employer's offices. She would be at the concert tonight and there was a planned interview between the two shows they were giving.

Patrick had been instructed to stay near but try to make himself inconspicuous while she was around. He was most definitely to make sure that he was not captured in any pictures.

Aimee was well aware of the kidnapping threat, but Reuben had suggested that they steer clear of the subject during the interview. He'd already told Aimee that no one would answer questions about it at the insistence of the FBI. All other subjects were open, but that one would be met with a 'no comment'.

Keith walked onto the shadowed stage and strolled over to the curtain. He parted the two sides slightly and put his eye to the space. The room was filling nicely. When they'd setup and practiced earlier, he'd noted that the room would hold a little over a thousand people. It was a relatively intimate setting. How come he felt totally exposed even behind the closed curtain?

He caught a movement out of the corner of his eye and jerked in surprise before he realized it was the ever present Patrick.

Patrick threw him a slow confident smile. He couldn't help but notice the young man's nervousness. He didn't know if he was normally this nervous before a performance, but he doubted it. He suspected that it had everything to do with the threat against him rather than the upcoming show.

"You know, we've done a thorough check on all the hall's employees." Patrick decided to try and make Keith feel better about his safety. "No one will be allowed backstage except a hand-full of them and that reporter you're expecting. The rest of the people will be ours. You'll be safer here than in your own home."

Keith just nodded. He'd heard all of this before. Reuben and his mom had made sure that he knew of all the precautions that had been taken. It had been meant to make him feel better but instead he felt bad for the fans that would be denied access to after show autographs. He sighed at the thought of not being able to meet their fans. It was another reason to hate what was happening to him.

He noticed his mom come around one of the backstage curtains, a look of almost pure panic on her face. As soon as she saw him standing their calmly next to Patrick, she slowed down and tried to school her features.

Keith frowned at the worry he'd caused her just because he couldn't sit quietly in the dressing room before the concert. "Sorry mom, I just wanted to check the instruments one more time."

"It's alright, I just wish you'd have told me before you left. Told anyone before you left." Shirley tried to reassure him.

"I would have, but Laurie and Danny were arguing about…" Keith stopped himself as their topic of conversation was standing right next to him and Keith didn't want to embarrass Laurie even if everyone knew that what Danny had been saying was the truth.

Shirley let the subject drop as she noticed Keith's eyes travel guiltily to Patrick. She quickly surmised that Danny had been teasing Laurie about Patrick and let it drop herself.

"Come on back to the dressing room. Aimee stopped in before the show and she wanted to say 'hi' before we go on." Shirley hoped this little distraction would help to take Keith's mind off his problems.

It did, if only a little.

The shows went surprisingly well even though Keith started out a bit stiff at each of them. After a couple of songs, he would lose himself in the music and the response of the audience, which was enthusiastic.

Patrick watched it all from the side of the stage next to Reuben. "Is it always like this?"

"How do you mean?" Reuben had been nervously watching the audience, but had only seen teenaged girls staring adoringly at his superstar and showing their appreciation with loud applause and the occasional scream.

"The girls." Patrick couldn't figure out how to describe their reaction, so he just left it like that.

"Pretty much." Reuben left his answer short and didn't elaborate.

"Lucky guy." Patrick opined.

"He'd probably beg to differ right about now." Reuben pointed out.

"Right." Patrick agreed and refocused his efforts at watching the audience for possible threats. He'd been momentarily side tracked by the phenomenon that was Keith Partridge.

xoxo

That Sunday night, the family sang 'Happy Birthday' and ate Keith's birthday cake, but Keith was in too bad of a mood to enjoy it. Nothing had changed. Keith was still being followed by his ever present shadow and they had yet to confirm that they felt the threat was over. It was maddening.

They had two days off of school on Thursday and Friday which made Keith feel more and more like a prisoner.

He had found solace in their practices, which they had extended thanks to their time away from school.

One more day – it was all he had left before he was supposed to be free of the bodyguards in order to take Carol on a date. It wasn't looking good.

He had sighed for at least the tenth time in the last hour while he was supposedly reading the sports page.

"Alright, what's wrong?" Shirley asked having tried to ignore his sighs, but having no luck.

"This was all supposed to be over by now." Keith reminded her. "More than a week ago the FBI told you that they were sure that the people who were planning this were long gone. Why are we still prisoners in our own home?"

"I'm sorry honey. I know that would have been a great birthday present." Shirley felt like she'd been apologizing forever. She knew exactly how he felt. She too was sick of the constant intrusion into their lives. She too had someone with her everywhere she went. The grocery store, the bank, Reuben's office to sign contracts – everywhere she went, an agent went with her. If she was feeling the lack of privacy, Keith had to be feeling it even more.

"Mom, stop apologizing, it's not your fault." Keith felt awful about having made her feel the need to apologize again.

"Thank you." Shirley appreciated his thoughtfulness.

"I guess I'll call Carol and postpone our date." Keith finally resigned himself to what he'd been denying for more than a day. As he watched his mother start to form the ever present words 'I'm sorry', he quickly put his hand up to stop her. "Mom, once again, it's not your fault."

She smiled her thanks this time and watched him get up to use the phone in the kitchen. She guessed he wanted a little more privacy to break the date than he'd wanted to make it. She could understand that.

"Hi Carol, it's Keith." Keith slid down in the kitchen chair.

"You sound bummed out. What's wrong?" Carol twirled the phone cord around her finger. She suspected why Keith was calling, but had dreaded it. Not only did she have a birthday present that she wanted to give him when they were alone, but she'd just found something out today that she wanted to ask him about and she needed to see his face to judge his sincerity. It was another picture of him and Judy Strangis. However, in this one, they were kissing. From the angle of the picture, you couldn't tell if it was innocent or more intimate. Had he lied to her? She didn't want to believe that he had, but she also couldn't shake the disappointment she'd felt when Tina had stopped over to throw the picture at her in what could only be called triumph.

"They're still here so it looks like we'll have to postpone our date." Keith said sadly.

"I understand." Carol bit her lip as she tried to keep the question from popping out. She'd been close to tears all day. Ever since Tina had called Carol a fool for believing in Keith's innocence when it came to his relationship with the young Hollywood starlet.

"Do you really?" Keith had thought he'd heard something in her voice.

"Of course I do. We wouldn't have that much fun with Patrick listening to our every word. It's just that…." She let the thought drop. She wanted, no needed to see his face when he explained or tried to explain this new picture away.

"Just that what?" Keith was now sure that something more was going on than he currently could figure out.

"Nothing." Carol hedged quickly.

"No, it's not nothing. Carol, we need to talk to each other. It's the only thing we have going for us right now seeing as we can't go out on dates." Keith reminded her.

"I want so badly to be able to hold you and touch you." Carol sighed.

"Me too." Keith agreed quickly. That and so much more, was all he could think. "I want to kiss you too – long and slow."

"Oh, Keith, that sounds heavenly." Carol was almost breathless remembering their two previous encounters that had ended in long, slow, deep, wet kisses that could still take her breath away.

"I wish I could sneak out of the house, pick you up and run away from all of this." Keith admitted.

"I'll meet you anywhere you want." Carol's voice was hopeful.

"It's a great fantasy, but I don't think I'd make it past the guards." Keith actually started to put some serious thought into doing just what he'd suggested; sneaking away with Carol.

"I know, it's just that…." Carol had to stop herself again from mentioning what had been causing her such distress all day.

"Carol, talk to me. Something is bothering you. That's the second time you've stopped yourself from saying something." Keith waited for her to answer but the line stayed quiet. "Is it something I said? Something I did?"

"No, no, it's nothing like that." Carol said quickly. He'd come too close to the truth.

Her too quick answer had Keith believing he'd hit the nail on the head. "Please Carol, I need to know what's bothering you."

"It's silly." She tried talking herself into that one.

"No it's not or you wouldn't be holding out on me. We'd be laughing about it by now." Keith kept prodding.

"I didn't want to talk about this on the phone. I wanted to see your face. Know that what you were telling me was the truth." Carol could feel the tears she'd held back all day begin to form in her eyes. Her voice had roughened with their arrival.

"About what?" Keith could hear her distress but had no idea what this could be about. He wanted to reach through the phone lines and drag it out of her. No, he wanted to go over to her house and talk to her about it. He also knew how impossible that was.

"It's just that Tina…" Carol bit her lip again. She'd promised herself that she wouldn't let Tina poison her relationship with her suspicions; suspicions that up until just now Carol had not shared.

"You can't believe anything she says." Keith had no idea what Tina had told her, but he knew this wasn't good.

"It's the picture that makes me wonder." Carol said vaguely.

"What picture?" Keith waited for an answer, but Carol remained silent. "I can't explain unless you tell me what this is about."

"No, Keith really, it's alright. I'm being silly. I know that you have a great explanation and that I'm blowing this all out of proportion. It's ok, don't worry. As soon as we can be alone together we'll talk about this and I'm sure we'll end up laughing." Carol tried to force a laugh to prove her point, but it came out as half laugh and half sob. She cut it off quickly. "I better go. I'll talk to you soon."

"Carol…" Keith stopped as soon as he heard the dial tone in his ear.

What picture?

"Hey, Keith, did you see your latest picture?" Laurie walked into the kitchen and tossed the magazine on the counter in front of Keith who had gotten up to hang up the receiver. It was one of the gossip rags that printed stories based only loosely on truth. "Danny turned the page down if you're interested."

"Not really." Keith answered automatically but then remembered his recent conversation with Carol. This was one of the rags that Tina frequently read in secret – it didn't fit with her women's rights persona. She called it a guilty pleasure.

Laurie smiled when he reached for it anyway and turned to the page that was turned down. What he saw made him wince. This was what had Carol so upset. It was the innocent good-bye kiss he'd shared with Judy when she and her boyfriend had finally left the party.

He had to explain. He just had to.

"Laurie, I need your help." Keith said and pulled her out of the kitchen and up toward his bedroom. He needed total privacy to tell her what he needed from her.

He needed her help to sneak out of the house.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

In the upstairs hallway, Laurie finally got over her shock at Keith's behavior and tried to tug her arm out of his grasp. "Keith Partridge, I don't have to help you do anything."

Laurie's struggle barely slowed Keith's progress toward his room, but he did take the time to look over his shoulder and say, "Please."

"Alright, I'll listen." Laurie hedged. When her brother asked nicely, she rarely denied him anything. However, within minutes of entering the room and hearing what Keith had in mind, she was quickly denying him. "No way. Absolutely not. Never."

"Laurie, please. You have to help me." Keith added the word 'please' one more time.

"No I don't, especially when it means putting you in danger." Laurie shook her head and stood up from her perch on his bed.

"Oh, come on, you can't be serious. It's been weeks and no one suspicious has even been sighted in San Pueblo. Come on, there's no chance I'd be in danger." Keith reasoned.

"Ok, even if that's true, how do you propose to get past the guards? And, not only that, but mom will notice you missing within seconds of your leaving. You can't fool her." Laurie stood in front of Keith and put her hand on his shoulder. "Besides, what is so important that you would even consider risking your safety?"

"Carol saw the same picture you just showed me." Keith explained why it was so important for him to leave the house alone.

"So?" Laurie wasn't following.

"Tina was the one who showed it to her. She made it seem like the kiss wasn't as innocent as it really was. Come on Laurie, you were there, the kiss meant nothing – to either one of us." Keith appealed to Laurie's sense of fairness.

"Well, of course it was innocent. Judy's boyfriend was right behind her." Laurie remembered.

"Yeah, but the picture doesn't show him. And Tina poisoned Carol's mind with her suspicions." Keith could see Laurie weakening. "It doesn't seem fair that I should lose my chance at a relationship with Carol just because Tina was suspicious without reason."

"That's true. Tina's had it in for you since the two of you broke up." Laurie bit her lip in indecision. "But Keith, how in the world, even if I can get you past the guards, what am I supposed to tell mom when she asks where you are?"

"Don't let her ask." Keith suggested. He knew all of them eventually broke if their mom wanted to find something out from them. She could read them so easily.

"And just how do I do that?" Laurie scoffed.

"Avoid her?" Keith threw her a weak smile. He knew it was an impossible suggestion.

"Right. She won't find that unusual." Laurie said sarcastically.

"Maybe we could get Danny to help." Keith suggested. Danny loved an adventure and this definitely qualified as one. "You know, kind of keep her looking from one place to another."

Laurie just raised an eyebrow so he quickly continued. "Look, I don't need that much time. Just a couple of hours."

"How long does it take to explain the picture?" Laurie scoffed.

"Well, I plan to explain it up at Muldoon's Point." Keith sheepishly informed her and let her draw her own conclusions about what would really take the most time. The explanation or the make-up make-out session.

"Keith Partridge, you…." Laurie started but Keith quickly put his hand over her mouth when he heard something at the door.

"Sshhh." He shushed as he crept quietly to the door. He grabbed the knob, turned it quickly and just as quickly swung it open. Danny came stumbling into the room.

"Hey!" He said as he landed on his hands and knees in front of his angry older brother and sister.

"How long were you there?" Keith asked as he closed the door behind him. He didn't want anyone else to witness him beating Danny to within an inch of his life.

"I just got there. I was about to knock when you opened the door." Danny said quickly noticing the anger burning in his brother's eyes.

"Oh really." Keith's comment rang with his disbelief of Danny's answer. "Then I suppose you know that we were talking about the new song arrangement."

"Only if you've written a song about kissing Judy Strangis." Danny said and then realized immediately that he'd given himself away.

"Aha, I knew you'd been there longer." Keith said and backed Danny up against the wall.

"Well, don't get too mad if you still need my help." Danny quickly reasoned.

"Keith, he is right. If you beat him up, he won't be able to help you." Laurie tried to defuse Keith's anger even further.

"One of these days Danny, I won't need your help and then you better watch out." Keith threatened without heat. He was already realizing that what Danny and Laurie had said was true. He needed Danny's help too. Without it, he couldn't get out of the house. Not alone.

"What makes you think I'll help you after you threatened me?" Danny huffed.

"Because I can just as easily be talked back into beating you up." Keith reminded him.

"Right. I always was able to see reason." Danny agreed quickly. "So, what do I need to do?"

They put their heads together and started to plan.

xoxo

Keith had changed into dark clothes and had just hung up the upstairs phone after calling Carol. He wouldn't be able to take a vehicle, so he'd have to walk to meet her. She'd been able to borrow her mom's car and was meeting him at the taco stand. From there, they'd head to Muldoon's Point to talk about the picture and hopefully to make out for a long, long time.

Keith went back to his room and grabbed his dark blue jean jacket, shrugging it on. In just a few minutes, he expected to get the signal from Danny that Laurie had distracted their Mom so that Keith could head into the garage without her knowing he wasn't in his room. From there, Danny and Laurie would go on to phase two – distract the agents while Keith slipped by them.

Keith heard Danny whistling down the hallway, which was Keith's signal to hightail it downstairs. That meant that Laurie and their mom were in Laurie's room. Laurie had used the excuse to ask her mom what outfit would be better for her date with Mitch the next weekend.

As Keith practically tiptoed down the hallway, he almost stumbled over one of Tracy's toys before seeing it and narrowly avoiding disaster. His luck was holding as he crept past the door, making eye contact with Laurie over their mom's shoulder as she examined the outfit Laurie was holding in front of herself.

Keith walked quietly down the stairs, through the downstairs and out the back door.

"Hi, just heading to the garage to work on some music." Keith informed the guard who was in charge of the back of the house. Things had changed since the first time Keith had gone into the garage and an agent had followed him, they'd finally decided that the garage was as secure as the house and he was now left alone. He was glad to see that the guard was the young agent who had just about tripped over his jaw the first time he'd gotten a good look at Laurie. It would be easy for her to distract him.

He picked up his acoustic guitar and started to play softly so that he couldn't be heard from the house. He took numerous breaks so that the guard would get used to hearing him play and then not, over a period of time. It was supposed to sound like he was composing.

While Laurie distracted the guard, Danny would sneak into the garage and take Keith's place on the guitar. He only needed to play for a little while so that the guard would think Keith was still in there.

About fifteen minutes after Keith had walked past the guard, Danny shimmied through the barely open door.

"Ok, hurry." He whispered to Keith as he checked one last time to make sure the guard's attention was still firmly on Laurie.

Laurie had walked outside with a cup of coffee for the guard and had proceeded to pretend to miss the step down to the driveway. She spilled the coffee and artfully draped herself all over the stunned yet pleased guard.

While she smiled prettily into his face, Danny had slipped into the garage. After she'd been set back on her own two feet, she'd pretended to have twisted her ankle. The second distraction was used by Keith to slip out of the garage and into the shadows of the backyard. From there, he easily stayed out of sight until he was far enough from the house to walk more rapidly toward his destination.

"I feel so foolish." Laurie said to the guard as he helped her to a seat in one of the kitchen chairs.

"What happened?" Shirley asked as soon as she noticed her daughter walking with an uneven gate.

"I was taking coffee out to Pete…" Laurie started to explain.

"It's Paul." The guard corrected her quickly. He wanted to make sure she knew his real name.

"Oh, I'm sorry. To Paul, here and I tripped down the step. Can you believe it?" Laurie felt her face flame and hoped her mother thought she was embarrassed for having gotten Paul's name wrong rather than for lying.

"Are you alright?" Shirley asked, immediately more concerned about Laurie's well being than the guard's name.

"Yes, it's starting to feel better already. Thank you so much, Pete." Laurie smiled at her gallant guard.

"It's Paul." He said again and watched as Laurie blushed again.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Paul, you've been so kind." Laurie had purposely said his name wrong so that her continued blush wouldn't be questioned. She'd never lied to her mother and wasn't exactly comfortable doing it even if it was to help her brother.

"Put your foot up on the chair and let me take a look at it." Shirley instructed as she waved the flustered guard back to his post. Laurie's smiles and apologies had rendered the guard speechless and he would be a devoted fan for life, if Shirley didn't miss her guess.

"It's really nothing mom." Laurie assured her, but put her foot up on the chair when her mother just raised an eyebrow at her.

"How in the world did you miss the step? You've never done that before." Shirley asked as she pressed the ankle at different spots and watched her daughter's face for winces of pain.

"Guess I was distracted." Laurie suggested. Paul was kind of cute if not too old for her.

"Hmmm….guess you were." Shirley said. "Well, I don't see any swelling and you don't appear to have much pain."

"No, it was just a twinge when I did it. I'm sure it will be fine. Thanks for looking at it." Laurie said and stood up pretending to test it by putting weight on it and taking it off. "See? All better."

"What in the world…." Shirley started to ask why her daughter had taken coffee to the guard when she'd never done that before, but Laurie quickly distracted her.

"Mom, do you think we'll be able to hem that skirt before next weekend so I can wear it on my date with Mitch?" Laurie grabbed her mom's arm and pulled her from the kitchen. She didn't want her in there when Danny came back in.

"Yes, honey, I told you that before." Shirley frowned slightly. Laurie was acting very skittish.

"I know, but I'm really looking forward to this date. I want to make a great first impression." Laurie babbled.

"Honey, you obviously did that already." At Laurie's obvious lack of understanding, Shirley continued, "He's asked you out, hasn't he?"

"Right. I guess it's my second impression I'm worried about." Laurie laughed with her mom.

xoxo

Keith had stuck to the shadows for more than four blocks. He had only recently begun to walk without fear of being caught. As he passed under a street lamp, he jumped when he saw his own shadow.

"Partridge, you have got to relax. Nothing's going to happen. That's why you snuck out, because you were so sure that there was no reason to be worried." Keith reminded himself in a mumble.

He forcefully pushed the nervousness from his mind and looked forward to meeting up with Carol. As his thoughts turned to Carol and Muldoon's Point, Keith completely missed the van that was trailing behind him with its lights off.

As Keith turned the last corner, the lights of the taco stand were welcoming. He sped up his steps seeing Carol sitting at one of the picnic tables already waiting for him.

Just before he was within shouting distance, the hairs on the back of his neck rose and he spun around quickly.

There was no one there.

He peered more closely into the shadows all around him but could see nothing. He was just about to turn back to the taco stand when he heard a rustling in the bushes. He tensed and jumped when a cat shot past him within inches.

He laughed at his nervousness and, taking one last scan of the area, turned back to the taco stand.

Carol saw him and waved. He waved back and hurried his pace.

xoxo

"Where are you going?" Laurie noticed her mom heading toward the stairs with what looked like clothes for Keith's room.

"I'm taking Keith's laundry up to his room." Shirley answered.

"Oh, I'll take them." At her mother's raised brow she quickly continued, "I have to go up and get another book. I finished this one."

Laurie closed the book that had been riveting but still had one more chapter to go. She'd have to wait for another time to find out the answer to the mystery novel she'd been reading. Another thing Keith owed her for. So far, she figured he owed her for helping him leave, for possibly hurting Paul's feelings, for lying to their mom and now for missing out on the end of her book.

"Thanks, honey." Shirley gladly handed the items over. She had plenty to keep her busy before she headed up to bed. As she turned from the stairs, she spotted Danny coming through the kitchen door. "Where have you been?"

"Nowhere." Danny answered quickly and then realized he'd need to explain or she'd keep questioning him. "I was just in the kitchen getting a snack."

"What did you find?" Shirley asked.

"Oh, just a couple of cookies." Danny said and then realized that he shouldn't have used that excuse. He was actually hungry but now wouldn't be able to eat anything else before he went to bed. Keith owed him, big time, for this.

"Well, go brush your teeth, you should be getting ready for bed." Shirley had glanced at the clock above the fireplace mantle. It was already going on 9:00.

"There's no school tomorrow. Can't I stay up a little later tonight?" Danny asked hopefully.

"How does a half an hour sound?" Shirley said magnanimously. Her kids had been so good about their recent hardship of having to be watched constantly. Bending the rules slightly wouldn't hurt, would it?

"Thanks, Mom." Danny grinned and headed for the TV set. "Come on and watch some TV with me."

Shirley shook her head at her middle child who wanted so badly to be as grown up as Keith and Laurie. She decided that her chores could wait. Sitting next to Danny and watching TV sounded much more inviting.

xoxo

Carol had greeted him with an enthusiastic kiss. While he drank in her taste, Keith realized that this kiss alone might have been worth his escape from his prison.

"Now that's the kind of welcome I could get used to." Keith said as Carol finally backed off. He kept his arms wrapped tightly around her waist and it appeared that she had no desire to remove her arms from around his neck either.

"My pleasure." Carol practically purred.

"I think the pleasure may have been mine, but we can argue that point later." Keith kissed her playfully on the corner of her smiling lips.

"Did you want to have a taco before….?" Carol trailed off. She didn't want to seem too impatient to head up to Muldoon's Point, but she really was quite eager.

Now that he was standing in front of her and she could kiss him whenever she wanted, she wasn't nearly as upset about the picture of him in that rag. After all, she was the one currently wrapped happily in his arms, not the Hollywood starlet.

"Tacos are the last thing on my mind." Keith assured her.

"Burritos?" Carol teased.

"Now that you mention it….." Keith grinned in her face. "Nope, on second thought, burritos aren't very high on my list either."

"So, what's number one on your list?" Carol grinned back.

"This." Keith said as he leaned in for a kiss. "And this." He leaned in for another. "And…." The third kiss made Carol's toes curl in her shoes and received catcalls from some of the other kids at the stand.

Keith broke the kiss and twirled Carol away from him dramatically while sweeping her into a bow with him. Her giggles kept Keith's smile firmly fixed on his face.

"Come on, let's blow this pop stand." Keith whispered in her ear.

Carol nodded eagerly and grabbed his hand to pull him toward her mother's car.

The catcalls followed them as everyone guessed exactly where they were headed. The girls were all jealous of Carol's date and the guys were all jealous that Keith had gotten a girl to go directly to Muldoon's Point with very little wooing.

Keith threw one more triumphant smile over his shoulder before climbing into the car.

xoxo

"He's in the garage." Laurie quickly said as they headed down the upstairs hallway. Shirley had just checked on Chris and Tracy and met Laurie on her way back downstairs.

"Oh?" Shirley was surprised by that answer. She hadn't seen him walk past her and the last she'd heard, he was in his room. She could usually follow his progress around the house by his still intermittent coughs. Even after getting a clean bill of health from the family doctor, he still had a hoarse cough during the evenings and mornings.

"Yeah, when I took his clothes up before, he said he'd gotten an idea for a new tune. When I stuck my head in this time he was gone. So, he must be in the garage." Laurie hoped she hadn't over played her hand.

"I see." Shirley noticed that no light came from Keith's room and just let the explanation slide. "Want to come down and watch the end of Columbo with Danny?"

"Sure." Laurie agreed.

The three of them watched until the credits began to roll. Shirley stood up and moved to the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" Danny asked quickly.

"I was going to go into the garage and remind Keith that he shouldn't work too late." Shirley looked at Danny suspiciously. He rarely questioned where she was going.

"I'll go." He said quickly. "Gives me a few more minutes before I have to go to bed."

Shirley fell for that one easily. Danny would give any excuse, no matter how lame, to avoid being sent to bed early like Chris and Tracy. He loved being included with the older kids.

"He promised not to stay up too late." Danny said after pretending to talk to Keith in the garage. "Well, goodnight."

"Goodnight Sweetheart." Shirley called to his departing back. "And don't forget to brush your teeth."

Danny grimaced and continued up the stairs.

"You look a little tired yourself. Why don't you head up to bed?" Laurie had no desire to sit up with her mom and try to cover for Keith's whereabouts any longer.

"I just have to get the roast out for tomorrow's dinner." Shirley once again headed for the kitchen.

"I'll get it. I need to rinse out Danny's milk glass." Laurie grabbed the glass from the coffee table and headed into the other room. She quickly came back out the door heading into the dining room after completing her chores and put her arm around her mother who had just locked the front door.

"I hope Keith doesn't stay up too late. You know, sometimes he works too hard." Shirley said as she glanced toward the back of the house.

"Oh, I'd be willing to bet he doesn't consider tonight's activities to be work." Laurie smiled as she pictured her brother enjoying himself at Muldoon's Point.

xoxo

Keith had unbuckled his seatbelt and slid across the seat so that he could get closer to Carol as she drove them up to Muldoon's Point.

"Keith, what are you doing?" Carol asked suspiciously as she felt his arm go around her shoulders.

"Nothing." Keith said as he began to nuzzle her right ear.

"That's not nothing." Carol shivered as his tongue began to play with her ear. She heard Keith just chuckle quietly as he continued to drive her crazy.

Carol felt her eyes begin to drift closed as his hands began to wander. They shot back open when a car horn blared as she drifted toward the center line.

"Shame on you. Pay attention to your driving." Keith instructed as he went back to nipping and licking her ear and neck.

"Oh…..Keith." Carol breathed but concentrated mightily on keeping her eyes open and her mind on driving. It was almost impossible.

Her eyes began to drift closed and her blinks became longer and longer.

She was wide eyed with shock seconds later when she felt the car jerk and shudder. She'd have heard the crash if the blood hadn't been rushing through her ears.

"What was that?" Keith asked as his head came up from her neck.

"I don't know." Carol said as the same thing happened once again. Only this time, she was not as distracted. She finally realized that someone was smashing into the back of her mother's car. "Oh my god!"

Keith's head had turned to the back on the third hit and he finally realized that someone was trying to run them off the road. "What the hell?"

Before he could even think of how to help Carol retain control over the car, the van following them hit them harder than the previous three times. Carol panicked and lost control.

The car went careening down a steep embankment and came to a sudden stop when it hit a tree.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Laurie had crawled into bed after saying goodnight to her mother in the hallway, but she hadn't fallen asleep. She couldn't have if she'd wanted to. She lay there tensely waiting to hear Keith creep quietly down the hallway.

She watched the alarm clock on the nightstand between her bed and Tracy's. It kept ticking…..and ticking. She watched 11:00 o'clock come and go. Then she watched midnight slip past. By 1:00 o'clock in the morning, she was sitting up in bed and had picked the clock up thinking it had somehow or another begun to tick faster than it should.

Keith should have been home at least an hour ago. Even though they didn't have school tomorrow, his curfew was midnight on a weeknight.

If he had truly been in the garage, she wouldn't have been worried either. It wasn't unusual for him to stay up all night if the creative bug had bitten. But, he wasn't in the garage.

When the clock showed 1:30, she couldn't stand the waiting any longer. She pushed the covers back and grabbed her robe. Once she had tied the sash, she quietly opened the door and tiptoed down the hall to Chris and Danny's room. She wasn't about to worry alone any longer.

"Danny." Laurie whispered as she shook his shoulder.

"What?" Danny mumbled grumpily as he rolled toward his sister who had perched on the side of his bed.

"Danny, it's 1:30." Laurie said worriedly.

"That's great. You've finally learned to tell time." Danny opened one eye to level a glare at her.

"Very funny. It's 1:30." Laurie said putting emphasis on the time again.

"You've already said that. I was asleep, not deaf." Danny quipped.

"Keith's not home yet." Laurie finally realized that Danny's sleep fogged brain, though it could still throw out one liners, was not following her at all.

"You're kidding." Danny finally understood why Laurie looked so upset.

"No, I'm not kidding." Laurie shot her brother a dirty look. Like she'd come in here and lie to him about something like that.

"Is it possible you missed him walking down the hall?" Danny asked as he pushed the covers back to get out of bed.

"Oh, I hadn't thought of that. Maybe he was trying to be so sneaky, I missed him." Laurie smiled in relief at Danny's suggestion. "Go back to sleep, I'll go and check on him."

"Sleep? You want me to sleep after telling me Keith might not be back?" Danny asked in surprise as he reached for his own robe. "Forget it. I'm going with you. Come on."

Laurie followed Danny out of his room and the few short steps to Keith's closed bedroom door. Danny grabbed the knob and looked over his shoulder at Laurie who urged him forward.

Danny crossed his fingers in front of him so Laurie wouldn't see them and turned the knob quietly. They tiptoed into the room and glanced toward the bed.

"See, he's back." Danny motioned to the lump underneath the covers that was barely visible in the shadows.

"Something doesn't look right." Laurie said as she moved closer to the bed. She reached out to grab the covers and pulled them down. What she found was an extra pillow and several rolled up blankets not her older brother's body.

"Oh, I guess he put 'em there to fool someone if they just glanced in the door." Danny said weakly. He swallowed hard as he realized what this might just mean. Either his brother was having way too good of a time at Muldoon's Point, or something really awful had happened to him. Danny put his money on the Muldoon's Point option. "Look, he's probably just lost all track of time while he's making up with Carol."

"Danny, he wouldn't do that. Not knowing that we'd be here worried about him." Laurie suggested.

"Why not? Mom thinks he's at home. What better time to break the rules than when you're sure you won't get caught." Danny reasoned.

"I guess so." Laurie thought that might be a possibility. "But, if that's true, I'm gonna kill him when he does get home."

"Wait in line. I get the first shot at him." Danny agreed.

"Should we tell mom?" Laurie worried her bottom lip.

"Go right ahead, but you're on your own. I have no desire to die before I get a chance to kill Keith." Danny said with feeling.

xoxo

"Come on Keith, wake up." Carol whispered and then added with even more feeling. "Please."

They were in the back of a van that had been driving for at least an hour and Keith hadn't moved since she'd been tossed in unceremoniously next to him. The two men were sitting in the front with the radio on loudly which was why Carol felt safe in whispering to Keith trying to get him to wake up.

She knew he had hit his head. Hell, he'd hit more than just his head. She remembered the whole thing, unfortunately.

She'd been enjoying Keith's nibbling on her neck and getting anxious to finish her drive up to Muldoon's Point so that she could become an active participant in his activities. The next thing she knew, someone had forced her off the road and she remembered screaming as she watched the giant tree trunk appear in the bouncing headlights. She remembered the forward jolt that had been stopped by the lap belt she'd fastened out of habit.

Keith, who had unfastened his to slide across the seat next to her, had been thrown forward with nothing to slow his momentum except the front dash and the windshield. She heard the sickening screech and crunch of bending metal followed quickly by the overly loud sound of flesh and bone slamming into metal, plastic and glass. She wasn't sure what the rest of the sounds meant, whether it was car parts breaking or Keith's bones, but tears had sprung to her eyes in sympathy almost immediately.

"Keith?" She'd said quietly and then more frantically as his body had come to rest awkwardly; partially on the bench seat and partially on the floor of the car. She'd struggled to move toward him to check him for injuries before she realized that her seatbelt was what was holding her back. She struggled to get the simple latch to work and when her shaking fingers finally caused the catch to release, she quickly slid across the seat to touch him.

"Oh, thank God!" Carol touched his still warm skin and immediately felt a pulse in his neck while his breath tickled her cheek as she brought her face close to his. It was too dark to get a good look at him.

"Help! Someone please help us." She begged as she began to run her hands over his body looking for broken bones. She didn't realize that she was barely whispering the words rather than screaming them at the top of her lungs.

xoxo

"Oh crap! Get rid of them." The first guy said as he began to make his way down the embankment.

"How?" The second asked as he watched the headlights approach.

"Tell them to go and call for an ambulance or something. We'll be long gone before they get back." The first said as he quickly disappeared from sight.

The second man ran over to the other car that had just seen the tail end of a car disappear down the embankment.

"Did you see who it was?" The teenaged boy asked nervously. He'd never seen an accident before, much less one happen right before his eyes. He sort of felt like he was watching one of those horrid movies they made them watch in drivers' education. He expected to hear blood curdling screams any second. He could feel his date's fingers digging into his arm.

"No, we came along just before you did. My friend went down to check on them. I'm sure we'll need an ambulance. Go into town and call one." The stranger instructed. "Hurry!"

"Right." The teenager followed the older man's instructions without question. He was young enough to take everything the man said as truth. He'd been raised to respect his elders, and the man was definitely at least in his 30's.

As the now smiling man watched the tail lights of the teenager's car disappear around the next curve, he moved back to the edge of the road. He looked down the relatively steep embankment and waited patiently to hear what his partner needed him to do next.

"Come down….and bring the tape." He eventually heard from a disembodied voice.

He went back to the van, grabbed the big roll of duct tape and disappeared into the darkness.

When he reached the bottom, he realized that the female in the car was fully conscious, but that their intended target was out cold. Good, that made things easier.

Before Carol could realize that the two men were not there to help her, she was pulled away from Keith and her hands and mouth were quickly taped. She was immobilized and shoved to the ground. She tossed her hair out of her eyes and watched the second man go back to her mother's damaged car and unceremoniously drag Keith from the car by his left arm. He flipped him over, taped his hands together and then easily picked him up throwing him over his shoulder in a fireman's carry.

Carol would have been awed at his strength if she hadn't realized the man was at least six foot four of solid muscle. He was huge, especially compared to Keith. He easily outweighed Keith by at least 100 pounds.

She sat there in shock as the other man turned back to her and bent to pick her up.

"Don't start cryin' sweet thing or your nose will get all clogged and you'll suffocate." His words caused Carol's eyes to round in fear and he grinned to see the reaction. He loved it when a woman looked at him like that. He just wished he had some time to show her what true fear was.

Instead, he picked her up and tossed her over his own shoulder, making his way back up to the roadside. He tossed her roughly into the back of the van and was just about to slam the door when he gave her one last glance.

"Aw, girlie, I told you not to do that. Well, if you promise not to scream, I'll take off the tape." Carol had tried to hold back her tears, but when he'd thrown her into the back of the van, she'd hit pretty hard and the tears had come unbidden. The tears intensified when he ripped the tape from her tender skin. "Now, remember, hush."

She nodded quickly as he finally disappeared behind the closing van door. She bit her lip and tried vainly to stop the tears. She was hurt and more than a little scared; not only for herself, but for Keith too. How badly had he been hurt during the accident? Why hadn't he woken up yet? Was he going to die while he lay beside her in the back of a van heading to god knows where?

xoxo

It was just after 2:30 when Laurie and Danny finally found the courage to enter their mother's bedroom.

"You wake her." Laurie shoved Danny in front of her.

"Why me?" Danny hissed back, his fear of his mother's hurt and anger ever so slightly stronger than his fear for Keith. "This was all Keith's and your idea."

Laurie began to cry at Danny's reminder of her guilt in this whole thing.

"Aw, I didn't mean anything by that." Danny whispered feeling awful about making Laurie feel bad.

"No, you're right. This is my fault. I'll wake her." Laurie wiped at her tears, but they continued to fall. She reached out to touch her mother's shoulder gently. "Mom?"

"What is it, honey?" Shirley had been woken slightly by the fiercely whispered conversation, but was still trying to drag herself from the deepest sleep she'd gotten in over a week. She'd been lulled into a sense of security by the recent discussions that they thought the threat against Keith might be over. Or even possibly a figment of Marvin's imagination.

"Mom, Keith's not home yet." Laurie said urgently.

"Yes, he is, dear. He's in the garage. Remember?" Shirley said as she blinked her eyes trying to bring Laurie into focus.

"No, he's not." Danny said from behind her.

"Did you check?" Shirley asked now even more confused not only by the cryptic conversation, but by the fact that Danny was apparently awake in the middle of the night too.

"Mom, he never was in the garage. Well, that's not true. He was. Just not for long." Danny began to confess everything in a spate of choppy sentences.

"Slow down. Laurie, what's Danny trying to say?" Shirley sat up and reached for the bedside lamp. The light caused all three of them to squint in surprise at the sudden change.

"Oh, Mom, I'm so sorry." Laurie said first.

"Laurie, it's going to be alright. Just tell me what's going on." Shirley instructed calmly, her insides clenching in fear while her face remained passive.

"It's Keith. He's not home. And, no, he's not in the garage. That was just a…..well, a lie, so that he could go out and meet Carol." Laurie looked down in shame at her part in all of this.

"Keith left the house? How?" Shirley could not bring herself to believe what Laurie had said. The house was surrounded by FBI agents. Keith getting past them was impossible, right?

"They made me help." Danny said quickly. "I told them it was wrong."

"No you didn't. You thought it would be a great adventure." Laurie pointed out and then turned back to her quickly frowning mother. "Mom, I helped Keith get out. Danny and I helped."

"When did he leave?" Shirley was struggling to believe that she was awake instead of dreaming all of this. It was surreal.

"Around 8:30 or so. He snuck out to the garage when you and I were in my bedroom. Then I distracted the agent by the back door so that he could sneak out of the back yard. He promised to be home hours ago." Laurie could feel the tears intensify as fear for her brother took over. "Oh, God, mom, something's happened to him. I just know it."

"How could you? What were you thinking?" Shirley could feel her anger rising as she quickly got out of bed and, grabbing her robe, almost ran downstairs and out the front door. She needed to inform the agents so they could start looking for her son.

Her quick exit caused the two agents in front to jump from their relaxed positions leaning against the front fence.

"Mrs. Partridge? Is something wrong?" The blond man asked.

"Yes, I've just been told that Keith snuck out of the house hours ago." Shirley said calmly. Too calmly, if you asked Laurie. Where was her panic? Where was the fear?

"Well, find him!" Shirley said as the panic finally began to edge into her voice.

"Yes ma'am. As soon as we understand what we're looking for. Where was he going and with who?" The agent asked.

"He was going up to Muldoon's Point with his girlfriend, Carol Connor." Laurie said quickly. "She had borrowed her mother's car. They were meeting at the taco stand and then driving up to Muldoon's Point."

The agents quizzed Danny, Laurie and Shirley for another 15 minutes and then called for backup and support.

The search for Keith Partridge began at 3:00 am.

xoxo

The kidnappers had driven around for several hours. Sometimes back tracking sometimes making a beeline for their destination. They knew that at least one of their hostages was awake and they wanted to be sure she had no idea where they were headed. The panel van they were in made sure that she couldn't see anything, but she might be able to judge how far they'd driven if they hadn't made it almost impossible.

They pulled onto the dirt road and hung on tight as they bounced and jostled down the rutted road; deeper and deeper into the woods.

Carol continued to whisper to Keith begging him to wake up, but so far no luck. As she was tossed by the rough ride, she was almost grateful that Keith wasn't awake. She winced, groaned and grunted several times as her body was literally lifted from the floor of the van and brought crashing back down less than a second later. She could feel bruises forming with each new jolt.

She tried to brace herself against the smaller ones, but the bigger bumps invariably brought a groan of pain. Were they almost to their destination?

Just as she had that thought, the van shuddered to a stop.

"Scout around." One of the men said to the other.

"For what?" Asked the other.

"Make sure no one is around." The other said as if he were talking to a simpleton.

"We're in the middle of nowhere. Who's going to be around? Bears? Squirrels?"

"Just do it." The one in charge growled.

Carol heard a door open and close. Silence ruled for several minutes before the other man also got out of the van. She could hear voices outside, but couldn't make out what they were saying.

While she was alone in the van, she began to wiggle her wrists against the tape, attempting to loosen the bonds. All she got for her trouble was the small hairs on her arm being ripped out by the roots. She winced in pain again.

"Oh, Keith, please wake up. I need you." Carol whispered fiercely.

This time, her plea was met by a soft groan.

"Oh, Keith, that's it wake up!" Carol felt hope bloom.

Her next plea for him to wake up was cut short when the back door swung open.

"He still out?" The cruel man from before leered at her and then glanced at Keith.

"Yes, he is." Carol said quietly, fear once again the only thing she could feel.

"Wonder what he hit his head on so hard." The guy laughed. "He must be a wimp."

Carol had to bite her tongue to stop from defending Keith. He may not be the tallest or most muscular guy she'd ever known, but he was by no means a wimp. She'd seen him moving the family's equipment around with relative ease and that equipment was big and awkward. He may not look like a bodybuilder, but he was strong.

"This time you can walk." The second man, the man who didn't appear to have any designs on Carol's body, suggested as he came around the side of the van. He also appeared to be the one in charge. "You can carry the kid."

"Why me?" The jerk said. Carol had begun to call them 'Honcho' and 'Jerk' in her head. They had yet to use their names, so she'd labeled them to keep them straight.

"Because I'm the brains and you're the brawn." Honcho pointed out. "Besides, I'll carry the rest of this stuff."

"Fine, just don't forget the food. After this workout, I'll be hungry." Jerk informed Honcho. "Maybe girlie here knows how to cook over a camp fire."

"She doesn't." Carol sniffed. She'd been a girl scout when she was younger, but had no intention of helping them out in any way.

"Figures." Honcho said as he grabbed her ankle to pull her toward the open doors. "Come on get out. Follow…..my friend there." Honcho caught himself just before he used the jerk's name.

Carol had to fight the urge to run. They weren't paying very close attention to her. The jerk was walking with Keith over his shoulder, a flashlight's beam lighting the narrow path. He was already several yards away. Honcho was waist deep in the back of the van gathering their supplies. She could run.

But what about Keith? No, she'd stay until he was awake and they'd escape together. Besides, it was pitch black and she had no idea where she was.

xoxo

Reuben came flying through the front door shortly after 3:30. "What happened?"

"Reuben, what are you doing here?" Shirley had jumped when the front door had slammed against the closet door.

"Danny called." Reuben knew that's all the explanation she needed.

He glanced around the room to find Laurie and Danny sitting quietly on the couch with their heads down. They looked guilty. It was the first description that came to his mind.

Shirley was standing by the phone, her hands clasped tightly together. An FBI agent was sitting at the desk efficiently attaching what appeared to be tracing equipment to the phone if Reuben could believe the spy movies he'd seen.

"Shirley?" Reuben had to push for an answer. "What's going on? Danny just said to come quick."

Shirley bit her lip and swallowed hard before answering. She had to have her emotions under control or she'd be a weeping mass of fear in no time. "He's gone Reuben."

"Who's gone?" Reuben asked before it sunk in what she had said. "Keith? How?"

"He snuck out to meet his girlfriend." Shirley's eyes began to fill with tears. As the first one began to fall, she brushed it away but it was quickly replaced by another.

"How do you sneak out of a house surrounded by FBI agents?" Reuben asked as he walked toward Shirley. Her pointed and angry glance at Laurie and Danny had the light bulb reaching full wattage in Reuben's mind. "How could you?"

"They obviously weren't thinking." Shirley's anger at Danny and Laurie hadn't abated one bit since she'd found out they'd helped Keith get out of the house. She knew they felt awful and that they needed to hear her forgiveness, but she just couldn't give it. Not yet.

"We'll find him. We'll get him back." Reuben said even though he knew his words may very well be lies.

xoxo

When the jerk dropped Keith onto the floor of the cave, Keith groaned loudly.

"He's wakin' up!" The jerk informed Honcho.

"Good. We'll want to get him to talk on this tape so that they believe we have him." Honcho said as he set their supplies down on the opposite side of the sandy area they'd stopped in.

Carol, hearing Keith's groan, had quickly sat down next to him.

They began to light more lanterns now that they felt they were safe from prying eyes. When Honcho brought one over to get a closer look at Keith, Carol gasped at her first good look at him since the accident.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Reuben had been in the house for 10 minutes and couldn't take the tense silence any longer. "Shirley, do they think that you'll be getting a call? Is that why they're wiring up your phone?"

"Yes, they do." Shirley, who kept her back to her two oldest remaining children presently under her roof, said stiffly. She couldn't look at them. She'd either burst into tears or lay into them for their foolish acts. She didn't feel like she could help Keith if she was incapacitated with fear or anger. She needed to keep her head straight right now.

"Are they sure that the kidnappers have Keith?" Reuben asked tentatively. He could tell that Shirley was holding on by a thread, but he needed more information. Laurie and Danny were simply sitting there quietly. Apparently afraid to remind their mother that they were still in the room.

"No." Shirley sighed the word and then spoke in a firmer voice. "But why else wouldn't he be home. The only other option is that he's been in an accident. And, that's not an answer that makes me any happier."

"He could have just lost all track of time." Danny suggested. "You know how he is with girls. He looses all track of time when he's…..involved with one."

Shirley threw an icy look at Danny and turned back to Reuben. "I just have this feeling. Something's not right."

Reuben watched Danny slide closer to Laurie after being on the receiving end of a look that would have frozen hot coals. The anger in the look had surprised Reuben. He wasn't aware that Shirley could be that angry with any of her children. Then again, he'd never seen her dealing with one of her children being missing and likely in the hands of kidnappers. He guessed he might be angry too. But, that angry?

"I'll go and check with the agents to see if they know anything new." Reuben offered quickly. Not only did he want to know what was going on, but he needed to get away from the tension in the room. It made him nervous. Actually, it scared him.

xoxo

"Let my hands loose." Carol begged as she looked at the blood covering the right side of Keith's head. His hair was wet from it.

"No way." The jerk answered quickly.

"He's no good to you if he's dead." Carol reminded them.

"She's got a point. Let her loose." Honcho over ruled the jerk. "But keep a close watch on her."

Carol barely took the time to notice that her wrists were screaming with pain from the tape being ripped off. She rubbed them absently as she quickly moved closer to Keith. She tentatively reached out to run her hand gently over the side of his head. Her hand came away red with blood.

"Oh, Keith." She whispered in sympathy.

She continued to move her hands over the side of his head looking for the source of the blood. She jerked back suddenly when something sharp cut her finger. The action also caused Keith to jerk away from the contact as well. He groaned again.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to make it hurt." Carol said and gently went back to probe the area where she'd discovered what must be pieces of embedded glass. She found the area quickly and guessed that he must have pieces of the rear view mirror lodged in his scalp. The windshield had been cracked but intact; the rearview mirror was the only possibility. She remembered pushing it out of the way when she'd moved toward Keith earlier.

"Can I have a towel or something? I need to stop the bleeding." Carol never took her eyes from Keith. She'd noticed his eyes moving below his eyelids as if he was fighting to regain consciousness.

"Shhh, it's alright. I'm here." Carol murmured to Keith as his eyelids began to flutter open. His return to consciousness was also making him aware of the pain. He'd been groaning softly as his eyes finally blinked open.

"Carol?" Keith was trying vainly to make sense of what he was seeing. It looked like he was in a cave with Carol. But that was impossible. They were in her mother's car on the way up to Muldoon's Point.

"That's right. It's me." Carol smiled a watery smile, trying to reassure him. Unfortunately her reassurance needed a little work. His waking up had made her cry in joy that she was no longer alone in this most frightening situation.

"Where are we?" Keith asked quietly. Every word seemed to bring him pain.

"I'm not…." Carol was about to tell him she wasn't sure, when one of the kidnappers decided to make Keith aware of their existence.

"You're in a cave. Far away from any kind of help. So, don't even try to escape." Honcho informed him.

Keith blinked in bewilderment. Who had said that? Why had he said it?

"Who are you?" Keith finally put words to the questions flying around in his head.

"Who me? I'm your worst nightmare, kid." Honcho informed him with a grin.

"So, Marvin didn't make you up." Keith finally put two and two together in his foggy brain. The room tended to spin, dip and sway whenever he moved. Thinking was something he really had to concentrate on.

"I'm not sure who Marvin is, but if he told you we were your kidnappers, then, no, he wasn't making us up." Honcho tossed a towel to Carol. "Stop the bleeding. We need him alive. For a little while longer, at least."

"Ha, good one L….." Jerk started to say and then stopped quickly when he caught a glare from Honcho. Carol noted that Honcho's real first name started with an 'L'. She filed it away for later use.

Keith sucked in a breath past his teeth as Carol gently pressed the towel to the side of his head. "Sorry." She quickly said.

Keith moved to push Carol away, but realized that his arms were secured behind his back. As he made that motion, he realized that he had pain emanating from several places on his body, not just his head. He groaned as the rest of his body began to report in to his sluggish brain.

"What hurts?" Carol asked.

"Everything." Keith answered without really thinking about it.

"Could you be a little more specific? I can't treat your injuries, if they're everywhere." Carol grinned at him hoping that her little joke might take some of the fear out of this whole situation. For now, they wanted them both alive.

"You could try." Keith suggested just as lightly.

"Are you two flirting?" Honcho asked in surprise.

"No!" They answered in unison and then shared a small smile.

Honcho just turned his back on them and shook his head. They should be scared to death, instead they were flirting; even if they did try to deny it.

"Ouch!" This time Keith jerked back harder from Carol's attempt to apply direct pressure to his bleeding scalp.

"I need to stop the bleeding." She stated the obvious as she made to push the towel back in place.

"Well, not until you remove the piece of whatever it is you're trying to shove through my skull." Keith informed her dryly.

"I'm not so sure I should do that." Carol vaguely remembered that you weren't supposed to remove an embedded object, but she couldn't remember why.

"Well, you can't apply pressure without getting rid of it first, right?" Keith took a deep breath as she slowly began to run her fingers through his wet hair to try to find the offending piece of glass. He jerked slightly but held in the groan of pain when she finally found it. It didn't feel too big. Maybe taking it out wouldn't make him bleed too much more. All she knew was that with it sticking out of the side of his head, she couldn't treat him.

"Ok, I'm going to pull it out now." Carol quickly made a decision and grasped the small edge of the piece of something, tugging lightly. It didn't budge, but she noticed beads of sweat forming on Keith's upper lip.

"You'll have to pull harder than that." Keith said through gritted teeth.

"Ok, but I didn't want to hurt you." 'Too much' she added in her head as she tugged sharply on the object. She felt the resistance and then finally felt it let loose. She quickly replaced her hand with the towel and pressed firmly to slow and hopefully stop the bleeding.

She glanced down to see that the piece of something was indeed part of the mirror that she'd suspected. Thankfully, it didn't appear to be overly large which meant the wound shouldn't be too large either. She guessed it was true when they said that head wounds bled profusely.

"He still conscious?" Honcho asked as he approached them once again.

"Yes." Carol jumped at how the big hulking man had snuck up behind them.

"You ready to talk into this recorder for me?" Honcho motioned to the small cassette recorder he had in his hands.

"No way." Keith said. He was not going to help his kidnappers take his family for money they didn't really have.

"Why not?" The jerk said in surprise from behind them.

"Because my family doesn't have much money. You kidnapped the wrong person. They can't pay much for my return." Keith told him bravely.

"Well, that's too bad. Cause, if they don't pay, we'll be forced to kill you." Honcho said reasonably.

Keith's eyes shot to Honcho to judge his sincerity. He wasn't kidding. At least that's what his eyes said. They were steady and mean.

"Look, I wasn't lying when I said my family isn't rich. We haven't even put out our second album yet. We have a long way to go before we start making the kind of money you're looking for." Keith wasn't nearly as brave as before, but he needed to make them understand.

"Look, we're not idiots. We know your family isn't swimming in cash. But your record company is." Honcho informed him.

"Oh." Keith hadn't thought of that one. "How do you know they'll pay?"

"Kid, you just won a Grammy. They'll pay." Honcho plugged in the microphone to the side of the machine. "Think about what you want to tell your family."

"I won't do it." Keith said belligerently. He would not make things easy for them.

"You either talk into this thing or I'll give your little girlfriend here to my friend." Honcho motioned to the now grinning jerk who was rubbing his hands together in anticipation and practically drooling as he stared at Carol. "Does talking into this thing sound more attractive now?"

Keith nodded shortly. He immediately felt Carol relax slightly next to him. She'd tensed at the mention of being given to the jerk as a prize if Keith didn't cooperate.

"I thought you'd see it my way. So, tell them you're ok and that they need to do exactly what we tell them to do in order for you to stay that way." Honcho said and then pushed the record button.

Keith looked at the small microphone just inches from his mouth and licked his lips. Could he send a coded message to them? He had to try, didn't he?

"Hi, mom, it's Keith. I'm alright and so is Carol. Tell her parents she's ok, alright?" Keith paused and then decided to go for broke. "Don't blame Danny and Laurie for helping me get out of the house. They were only paying me back for the time they got lost and I saved their keisters by finding them. Remember?"

Honcho covered the microphone and whispered threateningly. "Just tell them to do exactly like we tell them to. Enough with the touchy, feely stuff."

"Mom, you have to do everything they tell you to do. If you do, they say that they'll let us go. I love you guys." Keith finished as Honcho began to move the microphone away from him.

"Good job, kid." Honcho said after clicking off the recorder.

Before Honcho moved away Keith asked quietly. "You won't let your friend anywhere near Carol, will you?"

"Naw, kid. She'll be safe." Honcho preferred to keep Keith's cooperation as long as possible.

"Will you tell me where you're hurt now?" Carol realized that the bleeding from his scalp had slowed down or stopped completely. She wasn't sure which, but she felt safe to move on to other issues, if he had them.

"I'm pretty bruised up, but I think that's the only thing you can treat at this point." Keith could tell that he'd have bruises all over the right side of his body, but he didn't think anything was broken. He ached from head to toe, but there were no sharp pains.

Just as that thought settled, he felt the urge to cough. He couldn't suppress it so he turned his head away from Carol and let loose. The cough was hoarse and caused his whole body to seize in pain. The bruising along his right side did not appreciate the use of his muscles throughout his stomach and rib cage. He groaned as the coughing spell finally ceased.

"I thought you were over your bronchitis." Carol put her hand to his forehead in worry that he might be running a fever.

"I was." Keith answered as soon as he caught his breath. "I'm sure it's nothing."

"I hope so." Carol said and then turned to watch Honcho grab a flashlight and head out of the cave.

She looked over to see Jerk giving her a leer. She shivered and sidled closer to Keith practically hiding behind him.

"Where's he going?" Keith addressed the other man while nodding his head toward the departing Honcho.

"To call your family. Whad'ya think?" Jerk grabbed a bag of cookies out of a bag and sat down to eat. He was too hungry to take advantage of the girl right now. Once he was full, he'd see about having some fun even though he'd been warned not to.

Keith began to cough again even though he'd rather not have.

"Do you have any water?" Carol asked thinking that it might help Keith to stop.

"I do. What'll you do for me if I give you some?" He jeered.

"Forget it." Keith told Carol quickly.

"Aw come on kid. Let 'er bargain for the water. It might be fun." Jerk laughed as the two of them just glared at him.

Carol finally realized that this just might be the chance they were looking for. Honcho was gone, probably for a while, and the jerk hadn't tied her back up. What was to stop her from untaping Keith and the two of them making a break for it?

xoxo

Shirley had gone into the kitchen to make coffee. She'd quickly gone upstairs and changed out of her night clothes. She wouldn't be sleeping again until Keith was home.

Reuben walked in and rested his hip against the counter next to her.

"Laurie and Danny finally went upstairs to change their clothes too." Reuben informed her.

Shirley just nodded. She was still so very angry with them for helping Keith get out of the house. If they hadn't helped him, he'd still be at home. Safe, with her.

"Shirley, you can't stay mad at them forever." Reuben suggested softly.

"Yes, I can." Shirley realized she sounded childish, but she was practically paralyzed with fear for Keith.

"Shirley, they know what they did was wrong." At her obstinate look he continued. "Shirley, they're dying inside thinking that you hate them."

"I don't hate them." She said quickly and automatically.

"I know that and you know that. But they don't know that." Reuben pointed out.

"Oh, Reuben, how could they help him get past the guards? He should be here with me. Safe." She put words to her earlier thoughts.

"Shirley, they're kids. Their brother asked them to help him. They believed what he told them, what the FBI told all of us just a few days ago. They thought the threat was over. They thought he'd be safe." Reuben put his hand on Shirley's shoulder that began to shake with the sobs that she was struggling to hold in.

"Oh, God, Reuben. What if we don't get him back?" Shirley whispered brokenly.

"We'll get him back." Reuben said confidently. "I've already called the record company. They've agreed to pay whatever they demand."

"They should. He's going to make them very rich." Shirley said bitterly pushing her fear back down. She needed to be strong; for Keith, for Laurie and Danny too.

"Shirley, talk to them. They're dying inside." Reuben could see Laurie and Danny were already sitting back on the couch, heads bowed. He nodded toward them so that Shirley would see what he was seeing.

She looked at her usually vibrant children sitting as if the weight of the world was on their shoulders. She'd done that to them. By blaming them for Keith's being taken.

xoxo

Keith glanced at Carol questioningly as he felt her loosening the tape holding his hands behind his back. She shook her head slightly making sure he knew not to give her away.

She continued to hold the towel to the side of his head as if still trying to stop the bleeding. With her other hand, she awkwardly peeled the tape away. Keith had to hold back a groan as the hairs on his arm were slowly and tortuously pulled from his arm. It would have been much less painful to have it done quickly, but they couldn't risk being discovered.

"Hey girlie." Jerk yelled causing Carol to jump nearly completely out of her skin. The guilt of removing the tape from Keith's wrists was making her twice as jumpy as she would have been.

"What?" Carol asked meekly trying to make him think he had them cowed.

"Maybe you should move away from him now. He's gotta have stopped bleeding by now." Jerk reasoned.

"Almost, just a few more minutes, should do it." Carol meant that she needed just a little more time to loosen the tape, but he didn't need to know that.

"No, I think you should move away now. Come sit by me." The Jerk leered.

"I don't think so." Carol said with disdain.

"What did you say?" The jerk asked threateningly.

"You heard me." Carol said bravely. She only needed a couple of more tugs on the tape and Keith would be able to do the rest on his own.

"Don't make me get up." The jerk was apparently pretty lazy besides being stupid.

Carol winked at Keith as she felt the tape give finally. Keith surreptitiously moved his hands so that the jerk wouldn't realize he was free but enough so that he knew he could get his hands in front of him when he needed to.

Carol picked up a handful of the sand while they watched the jerk finally get up and approach them menacingly.

"I'm in charge here and when I tell you to do something, girlie, you do it. Hear me?" Jerk said as he reached down to grab Carol's arm.

"Now!" Carol yelled as she threw the fist full of sand in his face and pulled Keith's arm with the other as she stood up and turned to run.

Keith pushed up with all his might and shoved his right foot in the jerk's chest to push him backwards and away from them.

In his mad scramble to clear his eyes and the unexpected shove to the chest caused the jerk to go down in a heap of muscle.

Keith finally gained his feet and was just about to begin running after Carol when he realized that his bruises might just be worse than he thought. His right knee and hip both protested holding his weight and he almost went down in a heap himself.

He gritted his teeth and hobbled as quickly as possible behind Carol. He hadn't gone more than 10 feet before he heard a roar of rage behind him that grew in intensity and volume as the now very angry man thundered after them.

Keith didn't stand a chance. Within seconds of gaining his feet, he was once again flat on the ground. Only this time, he had over 200 pounds of angry kidnapper pushing him firmly into the ground.

As Keith's ribs protested the added weight, he felt another coughing fit coming on. His face was planted in the dirt and he could barely breathe with the additional weight on his lungs. As his vision began to fade, he realized that he may very well die before the big bear of a man removed himself from his back.

"I've got him girlie and if you don't get back here in 2 seconds, I'm going to kill him." Jerk yelled into the blackness that had swallowed Carol.

Carol stopped immediately. Was he lying? Keith had been right behind her. Hadn't he?

Though Carol was in complete darkness, she could see that the Jerk truly had caught Keith. He had tackled him and was now pressing Keith into the dirt. She saw Keith struggling to turn his head enough to breath.

Oh, dear God, he was going to die if she didn't go back.

"I'm coming. Don't hurt him." Carol said and quickly made sure that the Jerk could see her.

"I knew you'd see it my way." The jerk said as he finally got up off of Keith.

As Keith pulled much needed oxygen into his depleted lungs, he began to cough….and cough. What had previously been a dry, nonproductive cough was now a wet and soggy cough. He was close to blacking out before it finally stopped. He was doubled over trying to catch his breath.

The jerk didn't care that Keith could barely stand. He grabbed his arm and swung him back toward the center of the cave. Keith staggered and lost his footing collapsing into a heap.

Carol ran over to him and helped him to a sitting position.

The jerk came over and grabbed Carol's arm. Keith, thinking the jerk was going to hurt Carol, grabbed his wrist and tried to intervene.

The next thing Keith saw coming was a meaty fist. It made solid contact with the left side of his head. Keith saw stars and went down in a heap one more time. Only this time, he hit his head on a rock when he landed.

His world faded to black.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Before Shirley could truly decide whether or not to forgive her two children who sat guiltily on the couch, the phone began to ring. She tensed in fear and anticipation.

"Shirley?" Reuben touched her arm to bring her attention to the FBI agent who was motioning her over.

"Go ahead and pick it up. We'll catch everything and trace it. Try to keep 'em talking for at least three minutes and remember to ask to talk to Keith." The agent instructed as he sat poised over his equipment.

Shirley walked slowly toward the ringing phone. Fear now the more apparent emotion.

Danny and Laurie had stood up in front of the couch but froze; not knowing whether their mother would rebuff them if they tried to offer her support.

Reuben walked closely behind Shirley and kept his hands out in front of him. He was prepared to catch her if she faltered.

Her slow walk turned into a rush when she realized they might hang up if she didn't pick up soon.

"Hello?" She said tentatively and almost too quietly to be heard.

"Is this Shirley Partridge?" The voice on the other end of the phone was obviously being disguised. It was raspy and spoken in a harsh whisper.

"Yes, yes it is." She said in a rush.

"We've got your son. He's ok for now, but you have to do everything I say, exactly as I tell you to." He continued.

"Anything. Just don't hurt him." Shirley agreed quickly.

"We want $500,000 in small untraceable bills. We'll be in touch with how you can get it to us." He rasped.

"We don't have that kind…." Shirley started. The amount had stunned her. It was a fortune in anyone's estimation, but she remembered Reuben's promise that the record company would pay. "I'll get it."

"I knew you'd see it my way." You could almost here the man's gloating across the lines.

"Can I talk to him?" Shirley knew she sounded like she was begging. She was.

"I don't have him with me right now, but I recorded something for you. You'll recognize his recorded voice, I'm sure." The kidnapper actually laughed at that one. He pushed the play button and put the mouth piece down by the tape recorder. Keith's voice came through loud and clear.

Shirley gasped as she heard the familiar sound of her son's voice. "Hi, mom, it's Keith. I'm alright and so is Carol. Tell her parents she's ok, alright? Don't blame Danny and Laurie for helping me get out of the house. They were only paying me back for the time they got lost and I saved their keisters by finding them. Remember?"

She began to weep when he paused for just a moment and then she heard, "Mom, you have to do everything they tell you to do. If you do, they say that they'll let us go. I love you guys."

"That's everything for now. I'll call back in 12 hours with instructions." The kidnapper hung up quickly. He knew the call would be traced or at least they'd try.

"Wait, please…." Shirley said to the dial tone.

"Shirley?" Reuben was still behind her with his hands at the ready.

"Oh, God." Shirley said as the tears washed down her face unchecked. When her body began to sag, Reuben quickly grabbed her and led her toward the couch.

"You got all that?" Reuben asked the agent over his shoulder as he set Shirley down before she fell down.

"We got it all. Just not the exact location. It wasn't long enough." The agent admitted.

"I'm sorry. It's all my fault. I was supposed to keep him talking." Shirley whispered.

"No Mom, it's my fault. Keith wouldn't have even been taken if I hadn't helped him get out of the house." Laurie said through her own tears. She wanted so badly to go to her mother, but she was sure she wanted nothing to do with her.

Laurie's words reminded Shirley that she and Danny had heard everything. They had to be dying inside just like she was. She looked up to see their faces, swimming in front of her. She simply put her arms up to them and they threw themselves at her weeping uncontrollably.

Shirley's earlier anger was long gone. It had been washed away by complete and utter fear. Hearing Keith's voice had brought this whole thing crashing down on her. She held her weeping children and let her own emotions come pouring out.

Reuben left the almost hysterical group to talk to the agent. If he stayed too close, he was sure he'd join them shortly. He couldn't do that. He didn't have time. Keith didn't have time. He needed to stay focused – for him – for Keith.

"What did they say?" Reuben asked quietly, knowing he wouldn't be heard over the crying.

"They asked for half a mil." The agent said in awe. That was a lot of money in anybody's world. Even Hugh Hefner's world.

"You're kidding. That's more than Marvin said they were going to ask for." Reuben said before realizing how silly that sounded. What difference did that matter? That was a whole lot of cash. Would the record company agree to pay it? They'd been prepared for $250,000 not twice that.

"Think the record company will fork it over?" The agent asked quietly. He too had the same thoughts as Reuben. That was a lot of money for a 17 year old kid – talented or not.

"Oh, they'll pay." Reuben said vehemently. "They'll pay."

"If you say so." The agent said doubtfully.

"Can I use this phone to call them or should I go somewhere else?" Reuben needed to get the wheels turning if they stood a chance of meeting the kidnapper's demands.

"Yeah, you can use this one. They won't be calling back for 12 hours." The agent decided to stay put. He wanted to hear the record company's response to the totally ridiculous amount of ransom.

As Reuben picked up the phone and dialed, Shirley began to get herself under control. Seeing Reuben pick up the phone made her realize that he must be calling the record company. She closed her eyes and prayed a quick prayer that they would come through for them. If they didn't, her son was dead.

The thought stopped her cold.

xoxo

Carol gasped and moved quickly to Keith as he lay awkwardly on the floor of the cave.

"Keith!" She screamed as she pulled his head into her lap and began to run her fingers along his face gently. "Please, wake up."

"Get over here, girlie. You owe me for that little escape attempt." The jerk moved toward her and grabbed her arm roughly.

Carol snatched her arm away and moved her attention quickly back to Keith. He was already showing signs of coming around. He must not have hit his head as hard as she'd thought.

"Don't you ignore me, girlie." The jerk grabbed her arm harder than the last time and physically pulled Carol to her feet. The abrupt motion caused Keith's head to fall suddenly from Carol's lap and onto the sand floor of the cave. The motion, instead of hurting Keith, actually helped to bring consciousness back more quickly. As he struggled to shake the cobwebs from his mind, he heard Carol first scream and then beg to be let go.

He blinked several times bringing the cave into better focus with each attempt. What he saw brought him no comfort.

His kidnapper was pulling Carol across the cave floor and trying to spread out a sleeping bag while keeping a vice grip on her arm. Carol was struggling violently to get loose. Her loose fist was pounding on his back and she was kicking him in every possible place she could reach.

Keith struggled to his feet and then began to frantically search for a weapon; any weapon. His eyes flew around the supplies that the kidnappers had brought in and found only bags of food and other supplies. Nothing hard.

Keith was getting almost as frantic as Carol was to get away from the kidnapper when he tripped over a rock as he stumbled toward Carol and her attacker. Of course – a rock! Two so recent head injuries must have slowed his thinking. He was surrounded by rocks. A rock was a perfect weapon.

Though Carol continued her struggles, she was quickly wearing herself out. The kidnapper had succeeded in spreading the sleeping bag and had even thrown Carol down on its soft surface. She quickly rolled over and continued her fight from a prone position.

Fortunately for her, her first kick upwards caught the unsuspecting jerk firmly between his legs. He dropped to his knees like a stone gasping for air. His angry eyes were glazed, but promised pay back for that one.

As Carol looked up at him in fear and surprise at her lucky shot, she caught the shadow of Keith coming up behind the man with his hands raised over his head and a heavy rock held between them. He brought it down solidly without guilt.

Carol barely had time to roll away before the man, his eyes rolling up into his head, fell face first into the soft sleeping bag.

"Hmm….too bad he fell on the sleeping bag." Keith said before another coughing fit took hold.

Carol, breathing hard from her struggle, jumped to her feet and rushed over to Keith as he doubled over with the force of his coughing. As he finally quieted down, Carol went in search of the water that she'd been told they had. She found a canteen and quickly took it to Keith.

"Here, drink this. It'll help." She rubbed his back gently as he gratefully took the canteen from her hands.

"Thanks." Keith said after catching his breath. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Big galoot deserved it. I hope you hit him so hard he can't remember his own name." Carol looked at his unconscious body and kicked him one more time for good measure.

Keith smiled and fought the urge to kick the guy himself. Instead, he moved over to the supplies and rummaged through them. "Come on, let's get out of here while we can."

"Good idea. Let's go!" Carol said and headed for the front of the cave.

"Not without some supplies. We have no idea how far we are from civilization." Keith reminded her.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. Hey, wait a minute, I was the Girl Scout and you dropped out of Boy Scouts. How come you're the one who's so prepared?" Carol was talking to cover her nervousness.

"Easy. Survival instinct." Keith explained as he limped to the next pile to see what they might need. He came up with the one still rolled sleeping bag, two flashlights and a sack that he filled with food and water. "Let's go."

xoxo

"Did you get to talk to Keith?" Danny asked. They'd been sitting hugging on the couch, but the tears and sobs had finally stopped. They were all cried out for now.

"Not in person. They had him on a tape." Shirley said an arm still around each of her children.

"What did he say?" Laurie asked as she pulled her head up from her mother's shoulder.

"He told me to do what they said and not to blame you two." Shirley smiled at her son's thoughtfulness even while in danger.

"He was thinking about us? While he's with kidnappers?" Laurie asked in shock.

"Yes, he mentioned the time he saved you and Danny when you got lost." Shirley recalled her son's voice on the tape recorder.

"What do you mean? Laurie and I never got lost; at least not together." Danny, ever the curious one, questioned how that subject would come up.

"I don't know, honey. It's what he said." Shirley said absently.

"No, that doesn't make sense. What did he say exactly?" Danny had pushed away from his mother and was now frowning in concentration. That subject being brought up while Keith was in danger just didn't make sense to him.

Shirley patiently repeated Keith's exact words, or at least as best she could remember them.

Danny jumped up from the couch and yelled, "Aha!"

"Aha, what?" Laurie frowned at her brother.

"That's a clue!" Danny began to talk very quickly wanting to make sure everyone listened to him before they told him his idea was silly. "Remember the situation Keith is talking about? It wasn't Laurie and me who were lost, it was Chris and me. And, he didn't exactly find us; we stumbled upon him while he was looking for us. The story is close enough to the truth, but not completely true. He was sending a message. He's trying to tell us something."

"Danny, what are you talking about?" Reuben tried shushing the young boy who often thought he was smarter than his 10 years would allow for.

"Don't you see? He's trying to tell us where he is." Danny was very excited about his idea but was having a hard time making people see what was so clear to him. "Remember? Dad took us camping in Cronos Caverns and Chris and I went on a short hike, but they all thought we got lost. We didn't. But Keith came looking for us anyway."

"Danny, we all remember the time. But, you were lost, even if you still won't admit it." Laurie reminded him of the story Dan and Keith had told when they'd gotten back. Chris and Danny would have missed breakfast if Keith hadn't found them. And, everyone knew that Danny would never miss a meal.

"We weren't lost!" Danny quickly defended himself.

"Kids, that's not the point." Shirley quickly played referee for her kids' normal arguments. She wanted to hear Danny's theory. She thought it might have some merit. "Danny, explain what you were saying before. The part about Keith giving a hidden message."

"Well, his story wasn't totally true. That's my point. And, if it's not true, only those of us there would know the whole truth." Danny said patiently. When they still looked at him as if waiting for something profound he continued. "He made sure we'd know it wasn't a truth he was telling, but a CLUE!"

"Do you really think so?" Shirley could feel hope wanting so badly to burst forth, but she forced it down not wanting to get her hopes up if it wasn't true. She couldn't handle the disappointment.

"It could be. What do you think it means?" The FBI agent who'd listened to the whole conversation without interrupting decided it was time to take an active role.

"He's being held in Cronos Caverns, of course!" Danny said quickly.

"Well, maybe not Cronos Caverns exactly, but a place with caves. That's where he found Danny and Chris." Laurie was finally starting to see the possibilities in Danny's theory.

"There aren't caves anywhere else for thousands of miles. It has to be Cronos Caverns." Danny's exaggeration of the next closest caves was a little off, but considering the length of time Keith had been gone, it was a definite possibility. They'd check out whether or not there were more.

They knew that Keith and his date had been taken around 9:30 because the kid who had driven into town to call an ambulance had placed the call right around that time. They also knew that the kidnapper had called the Partridge house at 4:30 in the morning. That was 7 hours, but they would have needed time to cover their tracks. Though the trace hadn't given them an exact location of the call, he was willing to bet they weren't too far away. They just had to wait for the next call to see what they suggested for a drop location. Once they knew that, they could narrow down the possibilities even further.

xoxo

Keith and Carol stepped out of the cave and into the wilderness that surrounded the cave. It was still dark, but the sky was showing just a hint of light. Keith estimated the time to be shortly before 5:00.

"Which way?" Carol asked, her arm firmly around Keith's waist. She'd taken up her post when she'd realized that Keith was limping badly as he walked. Though he'd refused to let her carry anything other than the flashlight, she'd done the next best thing and taken some of his weight. She'd couched it in the need to share body warmth – she was cold, she'd told him. He'd fallen for it either because he was cold, he wanted her close or he really did need her help to walk. At this point she wasn't exactly sure.

"I'm not sure. Which way did we come from when we got here?" Keith asked as he scanned the dark woods.

"That way." Carol waved the flashlight toward the left.

"Then let's go that way." Keith suggested the opposite direction having no desire to meet up with the other returning kidnapper.

"Not only are you talented and good looking, but you are obviously brilliant." Carol teased as she kissed his slowly smiling lips.

"You are obviously very smart yourself if you noticed all that." Keith laughed and then had to stop walking to cough. He pulled his arm from around her shoulder to cover his mouth. He was once again breathless before this latest coughing fit had run its course.

"That's getting worse. You should be home and in bed." Carol observed before realizing how silly her words were. Of course, he should be home and in bed. It was the middle of the night and he was sick. If he'd had his choice, that's where he'd be. If they hadn't been kidnapped, he wouldn't be sick.

Keith just pulled a weak smile and started to walk again. Carol slid up beside him and put her arm around him. He looked at her questioningly.

"I'm still cold." She fibbed.

He smiled at her lie and swung his arm over her head to lay it across her shoulders gratefully. He wouldn't actually admit his weakness, but if she was offering him help, he'd be a fool not to take it.

xoxo

The second kidnapper walked into the cave and knew immediately that he'd been a fool to leave his partner in charge of their victims. He saw his unconscious partner face down on a sleeping bag and their supplies had obviously been rifled through and scavenged.

"You idiot!" He yelled as he stormed over to the man's inert body and delivered a kick that was decidedly stronger than the one Carol had given him a short time ago.

The kick brought a groan of pain from the man who, with the added incentive, was now finally beginning to climb back to the real world.

"Wake up!" The other man roared. "They're gone! Our meal ticket has flown the coop! What happened?"

The jerk rolled over slowly bringing his hand to the back of his head which ached horribly. "What? What happened?"

"That's what you are going to tell me. Where are they?" The man in charge had finally gotten his temper under some control and was now talking in only a dull roar.

"They must have hit me over the head?" The jerk stated the obvious.

"You think? How did they get the jump on you? The kid's hands were taped behind his back." Honcho reminded him of how he'd left things. "Oh, I get it; you tried something with the girl didn't you?"

At the injured man's guilty look the guy in charge continued. "I told you to leave her alone. I told you that once we'd gotten the money you'd have all the time with her you wanted. Why couldn't you have waited? I had this all planned out so perfectly! You fool! You idiot!"

"We can find 'em. They couldn't have gotten far." The cowering man said quietly.

"Why not?" The other man squinted down at him.

"The Partridge kid could hardly walk. He must have gotten pretty banged up in the accident. When he ran the first time he almost fell over. He was moving so slowly." The man suddenly realized that he'd told him more than he'd intended. He now had to confess the whole thing. How they'd almost escaped the first time because he'd allowed himself to be distracted by a pretty girl. How he'd been distracted by her again when he'd been hit over the head from behind.

xoxo

They hadn't gone very far when Keith needed to take a short break. "Just a second." Keith said as he perched on the end of a log.

"What's wrong?" Carol asked knowing they were no where near far enough away to be taking breaks.

"Nothing." Carol frowned at his obvious lie. "It's just that my hip and knee are a little sore. From the accident."

Keith had hated telling her – he knew she'd feel guilty about letting herself be run off the road. If he hadn't been distracting her, she might have been able to avoid going in the ditch.

"Oh, Keith, I'm sorry. Should I take a look at it?" Carol offered, feeling guilty just like Keith had known she would.

"Carol, are you trying to get me to take my pants off?" Keith teased and watched her blush. He knew that his comment would distract her just enough for him to hopefully not let her realize how bad of shape he was really in.

"You are a naughty…" She let her thoughts trail off as she seriously considered having him take his pants off.

"Come on." Keith laughed at the sly look that he could just barely see coming into her eyes as the sky began to lighten into early dawn. "Much as I'd like to take you up on that thought, we really do need to keep moving."

"Right." Carol agreed quickly and blushed again realizing that Keith had read her mind.

The man was just too sexy for his own good. Here they were, cold, injured, running, well hobbling, through the forest with kidnappers possibly close on their heels and she was thinking of jumping his bones.

"Did you hear that?" Keith said as he pulled her down beside him and quickly put his hand over her mouth in fear that she might answer him.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

They heard more rustling and Keith, keeping his hand over Carol's mouth, pulled her deeper into the underbrush that had been right behind the log he'd sat down on to rest. He let go of her mouth with a shake of his head making sure she stayed quiet and grabbed their supplies pulling them behind cover too.

They sat tensely waiting for the rustling to either get louder or go another direction.

Carol's fingernails were digging into Keith's arm as she practically held her breath behind him. Keith winced as the noise got closer and Carol's grip got tighter. He put his hand over hers trying to get her to loosen her grip. He was sure she was about to draw blood.

His attention was diverted from the pain when the two kidnappers broke through some brush on the other side of the clearing. They didn't come through at the same spot that he and Carol had, so Keith was hopeful that they weren't following their trail but just looking. He hoped they were city dudes born and bred. If they picked up their trail, they were in trouble. Keith knew he couldn't run far enough or fast enough with the pain in his right hip and knee.

He was pretty sure they were just bruised, but he wasn't a doctor. All he knew was that when he tried walking, there was some pretty serious pain that reminded him he should really be resting.

He felt Carol tense even more behind him but she stayed still and quiet. 'Good girl', he thought as he tried to keep his own breathing slow and quiet.

He felt the urge to cough coming on and tried to slow his breathing even more in hopes of delaying it or stopping it altogether.

They'd be moving on shortly, wouldn't they?

"Are you sure they came this way?" The jerk who had attacked Carol whined behind the other guy.

"Well, it's the direction I would have gone. It's the opposite direction of the way we came and away from the direction I would have been coming back." Honcho reminded him.

"Well, what if they hid and just waited for you to leave the van. They might just hot wire it and get away clean." The jerk reasoned.

'Damn', Keith thought. That would have been a great idea. Too bad they hadn't thought of it. And here Carol was telling him how smart he was.

"That's not a bad idea. Even coming from you." Honcho sneered at his less than scholarly partner. "You keep looking in this direction. I'll go back and check up on the van. If you find 'em just shoot one round into the air."

'Shoot!' Keith's eyes flew to Carol's as they both realized what the man had said. Up to this point, they hadn't seen any weapons, but apparently they had guns. Great, just great. That's all they needed.

"You do the same." The jerk reminded him just in case he had plans to leave him wandering the woods even after he'd found their meal ticket.

"Don't worry. I have to call the kid's mother again before too long. I wanna get that money." Honcho was showing his nervousness just a little.

"Hey, we don't actually need the kid to get them to pay. They're already workin' on pulling it together with just a recording." Jerk reminded him.

"Yeah, but they'll likely want to talk to him before handing over the money and we don't have him thanks to you." Honcho reminded him.

"Sorry. I'll find 'em. Both of 'em. You'll see." Jerk assured him. He wanted the kid to pay him back for braining him in the cave and the girl, well he wanted her for reasons that were very personal. She was a looker and he wanted a taste of her before he headed for a tropical paradise with half of the ransom.

As Honcho began to head out of the clearing, the Jerk thought of one more thing. "Hey, they didn't say they couldn't pull together the 250 G's, did they?"

"Naw, it's exactly like we thought. The record company is gonna come through. You'll get your hundred and twenty five thou." Honcho assured him. He snickered as he walked away thinking about the extra $250 thousand he'd asked for without his partner's knowledge. He planned to keep the extra for himself. After all, he was brains of this outfit and deserved the extra money. What his buddy didn't know wouldn't hurt him, right? "Find 'em. But, either way, let's meet back at the cave no later than noon. I'll need to call the mother back to set up the drop."

Keith and Carol watched the two men head off in opposite directions never realizing that Carol and Keith had heard their whole conversation.

Keith felt a little light headed from holding back the cough that was still clamoring to expel some more mucus from his lungs. He shook his head at Carol as she made to get up. Not yet, he was thinking. If he had to move, he had to cough and they weren't far enough away for him to feel safe doing that.

xoxo

"Reuben, what did the record company say about the money?" Shirley had finally disentangled herself from Laurie and went to stand beside the man who had been a rock for her so far.

"They're already starting to contact their bankers." Reuben told her. He left out the part where they'd told him that they didn't think they could pull that much together unless they had close to a week. They'd been warned about the potential kidnappers asking for a quarter of a million not a half a million. They weren't prepared for the extra amount.

Obviously, they'd hoped to avoid paying anything at all, but now that their cash cow really had been taken, they were willing to pay. They just couldn't lay their hands on that much cash as quickly as they might have to.

"They're paying, aren't they?" Danny asked nervously. To him, a half a million dollars was half way to his goal of being a millionaire. It was a pie in the sky dream. A dream he had every intention of making come true, but the numbers were truly staggering to someone like Danny who was driven to earning it the old fashioned way.

"Yeah, kid, they're paying." Reuben pasted a semblance of a smile on his lips. He knew that they might not be able to meet the kidnapper's demands, but he had no desire to share that with the rest of Keith's family.

"Oh thank God!" Laurie said moving to stand near her mother who was paler than she'd been a few moments earlier.

"Reuben, will they have enough time to pull that much together?" Shirley asked quietly.

"No problem. They told me they'll have it together in no time." Reuben lied through his teeth trying to give them hope.

"That's good." Shirley breathed a little easier. She'd believed every word Reuben had said because she needed to believe every word he'd said. The alternative was unacceptable.

"I sure could use a cup of coffee, what about you?" Reuben decided to try and take Shirley's mind off of things for even a few seconds if possible.

Shirley realized immediately what Reuben was trying to do and she smiled weakly at him as she nodded her head and turned toward her kitchen. With Laurie and Danny trailing closely behind, they trouped out of the living room. Now that Shirley had apparently forgiven them, Danny and Laurie refused to leave their mother's side.

"How's about I start some breakfast?" Laurie suggested. "Chris and Tracy will be getting up soon."

"Oh, no, Chris and Tracy…..what'll I tell them?" Shirley stopped her forward momentum toward the coffee pot.

"Do you have to tell them anything?" Reuben suggested.

"They'll notice Keith isn't here." Danny reminded him.

"Right, I hadn't thought of that." Reuben mumbled.

"Why don't you send them to Mrs. Monahan's? Tell them that you want to get them away from all the agents. Then you can call Grandma and Grandpa to come and get them." Laurie suggested.

"Oh, yes, that's a good idea. Mom and Dad will be here by the end of the day if I ask them to come." Shirley tried to give her daughter a smile of thanks for the idea, but she was pretty sure it never made an appearance on her face.

xoxo

Keith was pretty sure he was seconds away from passing out when he finally felt like he could let the cough out that had been clamoring to make an appearance for at least 10 minutes. He leaned forward and muffled the sound in his jacket as best he could.

The spell, having been suppressed for so long, went on longer than Keith could almost believe. He was short of breath and panting when he was done.

"Are you alright?" Carol whispered as Keith finally seemed to relax.

"Will be." He croaked as he tried to catch his breath.

"Where's the canteen?" Carol asked as she followed those words by moving past Keith to look through their supplies. She found it, uncapped it and handed it to him. "Here you go. This should help."

"Thanks." Keith said after taking a few sips.

"It's getting worse, isn't it?" Carol wasn't all that familiar with coughs, but she knew she didn't like the sound of his. It sounded like it was loaded with gunk that couldn't be good for him. He'd just gotten over bronchitis and he hadn't sounded as bad back then as he did now.

"I'll be fine." Keith grinned at her tiredly. All he really wanted to do was curl up in a ball and sleep for about three days. He was tired and a little chilled. Getting moving should take care of the chill. The rest would have to wait.

"Sure?" Carol returned his smile with a tentative one of her own.

"I'm sure." Keith pushed himself to his feet. "Come on, one went that way and the other went that way. What say we head in a totally different direction?"

"I'm with you." Carol helped Keith pull all of their supplies back together and took her position next to Keith; her arm securely around him.

"You can't still be cold, can you?" Keith cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Nope, not in the least." Carol grinned. "I just so happen to like being close to you."

"My kinda girl." Keith agreed, fighting the urge to cough again.

"I better be." Carol hugged him closer.

xoxo

The FBI agents didn't check back in with them until Chris and Tracy had been safely bundled off to Mrs. Monahan's house. They'd protested slightly until Danny had reminded them that they could have as many brownies as they wanted.

"We're setting up a search party and we'll be looking around Cronos Caverns." The agent informed them.

"Told you he was at Cronos Caverns." Danny gloated.

"Well, son, we're not exactly sure that's where they are. We never did get enough of a fix on the call to even get a general area. But, we're also not going to disregard a possible location." The agent smiled at the boy he thought was too young to really understand what was going on.

Reuben couldn't help but feel a smile tug at his lips at the agent's mistake. Danny understood everything that was going on perfectly even if he was only ten. The kidnappers were driven by money. That was definitely something Danny could understand. Though he'd have never tried to make money in such an underhanded way, he could still understand why someone less well brought up might have taken the easy way out.

Money was a powerful driving force for many people.

"Now, we're still set up for a trace on the next call. They'll be calling back this afternoon. They need to give you time to get the money together, but they don't want to give you enough time to find them." The agent explained.

"Oh, so soon? I mean five hundred thousand is a lot of money. Wouldn't they think that would take quite a while to pull together?" Shirley asked surprised. She'd been thinking that they'd have at least a day. She'd been dreading the wait, but she also knew that the record company would need more than a few hours to pull together that kind of cash.

"Your record company is very profitable Mrs. Partridge. They probably think that there's a room with that much cash somewhere in the bowels of that big building they occupy." The agent said sarcastically. It constantly amazed him at how stupid most criminals usually were. They had no perception of reality.

"Right. So, what do we do in the meantime?" Shirley asked as she wrung her hands together. Other than that nervous gesture, she was pale but composed.

"We wait." The agent said simply.

"I'm not sure I can do that." Shirley laughed nervously. Her laugh began to melt into a sob, so she bit her lip and clamped down hard on her emotions. She had no desire to scare her children any more than they already were.

xoxo

They'd been moving slowly but steadily through the woods; staying off anything that even slightly resembled a path. Their faces had several small scratches from branches that had unexpectedly swung back and caught them before they could react. It was a small price to pay to stay hidden from their kidnappers.

"We'll need to find water pretty soon." Keith said after they paused to take a drink. He could feel that the canteen was almost empty.

"I thought I saw an animal trail a ways back. It could lead to water." Carol remembered what she'd learned in Girl Scouts.

"I knew I asked you out for a reason. You're not only beautiful, but you're brilliant too." Keith threw her compliment right back at her.

"Well, I always wondered why you asked me out. I mean, I know why I accepted, but you could have your pick of every girl in school." Carol decided she liked talking rather than just walking and worrying.

"That's not true. There are plenty of girls who don't want to go out with me." Keith was so used to trying to underplay his popularity, that it came out without his really thinking about it.

"Name one." Carol teased.

"Well, there's…..actually, I don't know her name." Keith decided to play along with her.

"Oh, really, just one?" Carol frowned, keeping up the game.

"Yep, I think that's it." Keith chuckled at her scowl.

"And, just how pray tell, do you know that the rest of the girls at school would say yes if you asked them?" Carol challenged him.

"Because I'm charming. Oh, and don't forget, I'm a good kisser. Even my brother has told people that." Keith flinched as he thought about how that comment had come out.

"Oh, so you've kissed your brother?" Carol teased.

"That didn't come out right." Keith defended himself.

"So, just what did you mean?" Carol arched an eyebrow at him.

"Let's just drop this subject. I'd rather not think about my family right now." Keith suggested.

"I'll bet my parents are worried sick." Carol agreed. "I just hope my dad's alright. He's got a weak heart."

"No, that's alright. Don't make me feel any more guilty about this than I already do." Keith said only half jokingly. He really did feel awful that he'd gotten Carol into this. And, until their conversation, he hadn't really thought about what this would be doing to her family. He'd thought about his family often in the few hours they'd been taken. It hadn't left him much room for Carol's situation.

"Oh, Keith, come on, you can't seriously blame yourself for this." Carol stopped walking and looked at him intently.

"Well, just who else is to blame?" Keith reminded her.

"How about the Jerk and the Honcho? They're the ones who deserve ALL the blame." Carol told him.

"The Jerk and the Honcho?" Keith questioned.

"It's my pet names for each of them. They fit don't they?" Carol explained.

"I don't think I'd call them 'pet names'. I don't think either of those two guys could be house trained." Keith joked.

"Very funny!" Carol punched him lightly in the stomach. Her actions caused him to cough even though it should have been way too light to have caused that reaction. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hit you so hard."

"You didn't. I'm fine. Really." Keith tried to reassure her.

"You don't sound fine. Besides that, you feel very warm. I think you're running a fever." Carol could feel the heat coming off of him in waves.

"Probably, but there's nothing we can do about it. Let's just keep moving, ok?" Keith pulled her back to his side and started moving.

xoxo

The phone began to ring in the late afternoon. Shirley immediately tensed, but forced herself to walk toward the object.

"Alright Mrs. Partridge. Keep 'em talking as long as you can and try to get as much time before the ransom gets delivered. We're hoping to find your son long before we pay them. Alright?" The agent coached. "Just like we practiced."

Shirley nodded and picked up the phone. "Hello."

"Ah, the dulcet tones of the prettiest bird around." The kidnapper sneered.

Shirley had no idea how to answer that, but wanted to keep him talking for the required three minutes. "I want to talk to my son." She demanded.

"Now, you are in no position to make demands, lady." The kidnapper was obviously upset by her comment.

"I need to speak to him. To know he's alright." Shirley explained quickly.

"Well, that's just too bad. You're going to have to take my word for it." The kidnapper snapped.

"I'll take another recording. Anything." Shirley begged hoping to stretch out the conversation.

"No dice, lady. You pissed me off, so you get nothing but my instructions." The kidnapper laughed a very nasty laugh.

"Please." Shirley tried again.

Her next comments were drowned out by the angry kidnapper. "Shut up, just shut up! Listen - that's what you need to do. That's all you need to do. Got that?"

He waited for Shirley to answer. She wavered. Should she answer him after he told her to shut up or not? Would he hurt Keith if she chose the wrong option?

"That's better." The kidnapper finally realized she was following his instructions in not answering his question. "Very good. For that, I'll make sure to have a new message from him at my next call."

He cursed his buddy under his breath for possibly making him a liar. But, he would lie to the lady to make sure that he had her cooperation; completely and totally.

"Alright, here's how it's going to be. You'll bring the money. You, and no one else. If I see cops or even smell cops, your kid is dead. You got that?" He demanded.

"I can't come alone." Shirley struggled for a reason. The FBI had told her that she was to make sure that she would not be the one making the drop. They planned to have an agent make the drop.

"Why not?" The kidnapper was stunned by her refusal.

"The bags. They're too heavy for me. Five hundred thousand is a lot of money and it's very heavy." Shirley prayed that her ploy would work.

"Hadn't thought of that." The kidnapper was momentarily stumped. He searched his mind for another plan. "You got a manager, right?"

"Yes. Reuben Kincaid." Shirley said automatically. She didn't want to push this man too hard, so she just blurted it out.

"He can make the drop." The kidnapper said more firmly. He was warming to this new idea. "And, I know what he looks like, so no swapping a cop for him."

Shirley frowned. He'd figured out their ploy. What had she just gotten Reuben into? "I understand."

"Good. Let's keep it that way. I'll call you back tomorrow morning to tell you where to drop it." The man said.

"We need more time." Shirley said quickly as the FBI agent made the signal telling her he needed more time.

"What do you mean?" The kidnapper snapped.

"The record company – they need more time to pull that much money together." Shirley lied through her teeth.

"How much time?" The kidnapper questioned.

"Two days at least." Shirley hoped she was giving the FBI enough time to find her son. She wasn't foolish enough to believe that they were actually going to trade her son for the money. They needed to find him before they gave the kidnappers the money.

"No dice lady. You get 24 hours. No, I'm feelin' generous. Make that tomorrow night, just after midnight." The kidnapper quickly remembered he wanted the drop to be at night. He couldn't risk being out in the open in the daylight. "I'll call tomorrow afternoon to check up on how you're doing with getting the money together. And, if you give me good news, maybe I'll even let you talk to your precious kid."

As the line went dead, Shirley hugged the receiver to her chest as she looked hopefully at the agent hunched over his equipment.

"Did she give you enough time?" Reuben asked.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

They'd followed the almost nonexistent tracks that small animals had made and finally stumbled upon a small brook of cold, pure water. They both knelt on the bank and, cupping their hands, drank their fill of the bracing water.

"Almost hurts my teeth it's so cold." Carol said as a quick shiver ran through her.

"Don't worry; it'll warm up fast enough once we carry it around in the canteen for a while." Keith reminded her.

"How much farther do you think we'll have to walk before we find someone?" Carol asked as she watched Keith dip the canteen under the water and they both watched as it filled up.

"I have no idea. I had hoped we might just stumble across someone or something by now." Keith admitted.

"I'm pretty tired. Do you think we could rest for a little while?" Carol was too keyed up to be all that tired, but she knew Keith had to be. He was now obviously burning up with fever and his limp had become even more pronounced as they'd made their way across the uneven ground.

"It should be safe. We could spread out the sleeping bag and even take a short nap. How does that sound?" Keith suggested.

"Heavenly." Carol agreed quickly.

They moved away from the stream and went in search of a small clearing that might allow them to stretch out and rest.

They'd been walking for most of the day and had heard nothing of their captors the whole time. Though they were moving slowly, they had to be several miles from where they'd started. They were as safe as they could get.

"How does this look?" Carol said as she broke through some underbrush to find a small grassy area blooming with wildflowers.

"Just big enough to stretch out comfortably. Let's eat a little something and then we can rest." Keith put down their supplies and stiffly began to sink to the ground. Man, he was hurting.

"I was hoping you'd suggest that. I'm starving." Carol grinned at him.

"Oh? Was that your stomach I heard before? I thought we were being invaded by growling bears." Keith joked back.

"Very funny. I haven't eaten for at least 24 hours. Aren't you hungry?" Carol knew he had to be.

"Not really." Keith admitted sheepishly. He was starting to suspect that he was sicker than he'd originally thought. With all the walking they'd done, he should be starving too.

"Well, you should try to eat something anyway. Need to keep up your strength if you're going to keep up with me." Carol tried to keep the mood light.

"If you say so, little Miss Girl Scout." Keith pulled a can of beef stew from the pack. "Hmmm, this would be good if we could warm it up, but I don't want to risk a fire."

"Good idea. What else is there?" Carol grabbed the sack from him and began to rummage herself. He wasn't nearly hungry enough to be fast enough for her. "How do saltines and jerky sound?"

"Salty." Keith groused.

"Well, we're still close to water." Carol suggested hopefully.

"Hand some over." Keith grinned at her and held out his hand.

Carol returned his smile and watched him stiffly resituate himself against the trunk of a nearby tree. She moved closer to Keith and smiled when he reached to pull her under his arm. She appreciated the closeness.

They ate in silence for a few minutes. Carol eating ravenously while Keith nibbled at the piece of jerky he really hadn't wanted. He was only eating to make Carol happy.

"Want any more?" Carol asked as she finished eating her fill.

"No, I'm good." Keith answered finally putting the last bite of jerky into his mouth and chewing slowly. He knew he needed both the nutrition and the salt.

"Keith?" Carol started tentatively.

"Hmm?" He mumbled.

"Do you think my parents know I'm alright?" Carol was really worried about them.

"I'm sure the FBI has been in touch with them. They know you're with me, right?" Keith reasoned.

"Yeah, that makes sense." Carol snuggled closer to him. Now that she'd eaten, she realized how tired she really was and had to hide a yawn behind her hand.

"How about we break out that sleeping bag and you catch some sleep?" Keith suggested having caught her not so well kept secret yawn.

"Sounds good." Carol got up and untied the bag. She spread it out in the quickly disappearing sunlight. "Aren't you going to join me?"

"Now that's an invitation that's almost too good to refuse." Keith grinned at her.

"Almost?" Carol had caught his phrasing.

"Well, one of us needs to stay awake and keep watch." Keith's smile quickly disappeared.

"I'll do it then. You need to get your rest." Carol quickly agreed, but thought he needed to sleep more than she did. After all, he was sick.

"Don't forget. I was unconscious for several hours. I'm not in the least bit tired." Keith assured her.

"Are you sure?" Carol paused.

"Positive." Keith forced a smile to his face again.

"Alright, wake me in a couple of hours and we can switch places." Carol slid between the warm folds of the bag and began to quickly blink as sleep crept up on her.

Carol watched Keith until she lost the battle to stay awake. Keith had smiled reassuringly at her the whole time, holding back the wince and the cough that were fighting to come out.

As soon as her eyes stayed closed in what he was certain was sleep, Keith finally allowed himself to shift on the ground and then had to fight to keep the groan inside. He was in some serious pain. His hip and knee were aching fiercely and his lungs were burning with the urge for another coughing spell. He knew he couldn't do it here, so he slowly began to push himself to an upright position.

When he finally gained his feet, the clearing began to pitch and roll. He grabbed the tree with his left hand and put his right hand up to his spinning head. His hand was met with his blood crusted hair. God, he must look a fright.

Once the world righted itself on its axis, Keith decided he'd not only move away to allow his coughing spell full reign, but he'd also walk back to the stream and wash the blood from his hair.

He knew it wasn't that far. He could make it, right?

xoxo

Shirley's parents had arrived and taken charge of Chris and Tracy. They'd told them that they were taking them on a weekend trip to the beach. Grandpa had borrowed the keys to a friend's house and they knew the vacation just screamed – we have to take the grandkids.

When Chris and Tracy questioned why no one else was going, Grandma explained that everyone else was too old to make really good sand castles.

"Your Grandma's right you know. Only kids and Grandparents make sand castles worth a darn." Grandpa quickly added.

"Oh." Tracy nodded her agreement. "Can I take my dolls along?"

"Of course you can sweetheart." Grandma said as she grabbed the little girls hand to take her upstairs to pack a bag. "We'll even pack them their own suitcase, how does that sound?"

"Super!" Tracy said as she skipped up the stairs behind her grandmother.

"So, Grandpa, what makes kids and grandparents better at sandcastles?" Chris was heard to ask before he disappeared around the bend in the stairs.

"You're sending agents along with them, right?" Shirley asked as she watched her two youngest trustingly go about their lives with her parents while her life came crashing down around her.

"Yes, Mrs. Partridge. They'll never be alone." The agent by the phone assured her. Though the people had changed, they had never been alone since this whole nightmare had escalated. They were not chancing that a call might come in when they weren't prepared.

"Thank you." Shirley said without taking her eyes from the stairway.

xoxo

Keith took off his jacket, knelt down by the stream bed and tested the water temperature and depth with his arm. He shivered a little when the cold water made contact with his overly warm skin. He was starting to suspect that his temperature was quite high. He was either very hot or close to shivering. While Carol had been walking so near to him, he had had to fight to hold them back. She'd have been worried if she'd have felt him shaking with cold. Hell, he was worried that he felt like shaking from his fever.

He shook his head at the predicament he currently found himself in. If he wasn't living it, he'd have been sure that it was a bad movie. Unfortunately for him, this was neither a dream nor a bad movie.

He'd brought his hand out of the water, cupping it to be able to make his hair wet and hopefully wash the dried blood away. He did this several times, but was getting nowhere fast. His hair was only slightly damp and the dried blood was being quite stubborn.

Laurie would say that was 'his kind of blood' - stubborn through and through – just like its owner. Thoughts of Laurie made him wonder how she felt about helping him get out of the house only to be taken by the kidnappers. She had to be feeling guilty as hell. Hell, he was feeling guilty as hell. Thoughts of home were only making him feel worse, so he pushed them from his mind and tried to decide if there was a better way to rid his hair of the dried blood that was now starting to itch.

He finally decided that leaning down and immersing his head in the water would likely be the only way the blood would ever be washed away. He wasn't looking forward to it what with the water being so cold, but what the heck, it might even help to lower his fever.

He leaned over and turned his head so that the right side would be the only part of his head to go into the water. The awkward position and his lightheadedness were his undoing. As he tried to work his fingers through the clumped hair, he foolishly used both hands rather than bracing himself; he lost his balance and slipped head first into the water.

His first inclination had been to draw in a deep breath in shock. He'd been able to stop that compulsion just long enough to push his hands against the bottom of the creek bed and pull himself dripping from the freezing waters. Once his head was out of the water, he sucked a huge breath of air into his deprived lungs.

Between the shock of the water temperature and the deep breath on lungs that were already stressed by congestion, he had no hope of holding in the coughing attack that set upon him with a vengeance.

"Keith?!?" He heard Carol come running up behind him.

Just great – not only did he suffer the indignity of falling into the water, but now he had a witness. He wasn't yet done coughing, though, so he didn't even attempt to reassure her that he was alright. If he truly was alright, that is. At this point, he wasn't sure.

Carol had run up beside him and then just sat there, not sure what to do. She wasn't sure how to help him.

After several minutes, Keith was finally able to stop the urge to cough. But, once that was done, he began to shiver from the cold. He was soaked from head to waist.

"I'm alright." Keith was finally able to reassure Carol who was close to tears he'd scared her so badly. First by being gone when she'd woken up and then by plunging head first into the water just as she'd broken out of the woods. All that followed by uncontrollable coughing that was getting worse as time went by.

She was truly worried that he was getting sicker by the minute.

"No you're not. You're freezing and dripping wet. Let's get you back to the sleeping bag. We need to warm you up." Carol helped him to his feet and paid no attention to the fact that she was getting very wet in the process.

Keith didn't argue. He didn't have the energy to argue. He couldn't even begin to suppress the shivers that were now coursing through his body. He was well and truly miserable.

Once back at the clearing, Carol quickly took control. She grabbed the bottom of Keith's shirt and pulled it over his head before he even had a clue as to what she had planned.

"Are your pants dry?" Carol asked and then proceeded to touch them herself not trusting that he would answer her truthfully. "No, they're wet too. Drop 'em."

Keith just looked at her. Did she just tell him to take off his pants?

She stood there tapping her toe and urged, "Come on. They're not going to come off by themselves. Do you need my help?"

"What?" Keith was still trying to recover from the first time she'd told him to take off his pants. Now she was offering to help. His frozen brain was not cooperating with him.

"Keith, you're freezing. I can see you shivering from here. Now get those pants off and crawl into the sleeping bag." Carol started toward him. "Hurry up."

"Stop." Keith put his hand up between them and took a minute for his brain to catch up with Carol's urgent comments. "I can take off my own clothes. Thank you very much."

"Well, then, let's go." Carol blew out a breath in frustration. If the rumors she'd heard about Keith were true, it wasn't like he hadn't taken his clothes off in front of a girl before. Oddly enough, though, he seemed almost shy about it. "Do you want me to turn around or something? Would that help?"

Keith was standing there shaking. The look on his face showed his confusion. He wasn't keeping up with her at all.

"Oh, for Pete's sake." Carol had had enough. She stepped up in front of him, grabbed the front of his pants and proceeded to unbutton them and pull down the zipper. All this while Keith stood there stunned. She slid them down his legs, patiently tapped his leg to make him step out of them and then stood up with the wet garment in her hands.

Keith shivered harder as a breeze swept through the clearing chilling his now almost naked body even further.

"Sleeping bag. Now!" Carol spoke in short sentences and pointed him toward the object. It was like talking to a toddler.

Keith finally limped over to the bag and snuggled down into its folds that still held some of Carol's body heat from earlier. He pulled the ends around his neck and shivered uncontrollably.

Carol took his clothes and draped them over a nearby bush, hoping they would dry quickly. She then removed her own sweater, realizing that it had become saturated while she'd helped Keith back to the clearing. She grabbed his jacket which had stayed mercifully dry and shrugged it on. She was warmer almost instantly. She put her nose down toward the collar and breathed in Keith's scent. She closed her eyes to enjoy the moment.

Her eyes sprang open when Keith was unable to stifle a moan. He was shivering so badly that his body, already banged up from the accident, was protesting his every shake.

"Still not warm?" Carol asked as she walked over to him. At the negative shake of his head, she continued. "Well, I can't light a fire, but…."

She'd always heard that body heat was a good way to get warm. "Scootch over, I'm joining you."

She could have sworn she'd seen Keith try to hide a sly grin as she squeezed inside the sleeping bag made for one. She immediately wrapped her arms around him and began to rub her hands up and down his back. The skin was almost hot to the touch.

Carol frowned as she realized that he was burning up with fever.

Once Keith seemed to stop the continuous shaking and only intermittent shivers would run through him, Carol stopped running her hands over his back and began to run them through his hair. She realized immediately what Keith had been trying to do. He'd been quite successful too and she was able to work all of the last bits of dried blood out of his hair. It was once again the soft shiny mass that every female was dying to run their fingers through.

Keith drifted off to sleep with the soothing feeling of Carol's fingers in his hair.

xoxo

Shirley sat on the couch running her fingers through Laurie's hair. Laurie had fallen asleep with her head in her mother's lap about 15 minutes earlier.

"Should we try to move her upstairs?" Reuben asked quietly as he walked into the living room from the kitchen. He'd just gotten off the phone with the record company. He wasn't looking forward to sharing the latest news.

"No, she'd just refuse as soon as we woke her up." Shirley smiled tiredly at the man who had been her rock since very early that morning.

Reuben just grunted his acceptance of her reasoning.

"What did they say?" Shirley was almost afraid of the answer, but she had to know.

"They're working on it." Reuben hoped his vague answer would suffice.

"What does that mean?" Shirley pushed. She had the feeling he was trying to hide something from her – protect her from something.

Reuben sat down in the chair just to Shirley's left. He stared straight ahead at the fireplace and the picture on the mantle. It was a picture of the family at their first performance; after they'd gotten over their stage-fright and wowed the crowd with their young talent. The proud smile on Shirley's face said it all.

"Reuben." Shirley glanced at what was drawing Reuben's attention and instead of seeing the look on her own face, saw the smiles of victory on her children's faces. They'd worked so hard to get where they were at that moment. That first performance had been the validation of everything they'd told her they could be. Everything they'd assured her they would be. Everything they'd promised to work so hard for. She was so proud of them.

He blinked and pulled his gaze away from the picture. "Shirley…."

Shirley let his voice fade and didn't urge him on. She knew that he would tell her when he was ready. The only indication that she was nervous about what he might say was in the pausing of her hand on Laurie's hair.

"They aren't going to be able to pull the full amount together in the time frame they've been given." Reuben finally blurted out his news.

"Oh, Dear God, what do we do?" Shirley's body tensed and her hand tightened unconsciously in Laurie's hair.

"We lie. We tell them we have it all and we go ahead with the drop." Reuben said with as much confidence as he could muster.

"Will that work?" Shirley could feel her breathing increase. She was close to panicking.

"It'll have to. We'll make it work." Reuben said quickly. "Besides, the FBI is already out searching for Keith. There's a good chance they'll find him before we even have to make the drop."

"Do you really think so?" Shirley asked in a small voice that was nothing like her normal confident voice.

"I do." Reuben smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. "I'm going to go and talk to the FBI and tell them this latest development. Will you be alright while I'm gone?"

The agents had all left the house while the family was to try and get some sleep. They were just outside, but saw no need to intrude throughout the night. If something happened, they were just a few steps away.

"Go ahead. I'll be fine." Shirley gave Reuben the strongest smile she could. She'd seen right through him. He was as scared as she was.

Reuben put a hand on her shoulder in comfort and the sharing of support as he walked past her.

As soon as the front door closed behind Reuben, Laurie's voice made Shirley jump.

"Mom, what'll happen if the kidnappers realize that they didn't get everything they asked for?" Laurie's voice was soft and she didn't look up at her mother when she talked. It was almost as if she was afraid to see her mother's face when she answered. As if she was afraid she'd be able to see the lie that she was hoping her mother would tell her.

Shirley paused before answering. Should she lie? Should she try to sugar coat it? No, she knew that Laurie would see through it, so she just tried to give the answer that gave her the most hope. "I don't know, honey. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

"Mom, if something happens to Keith – if he's hurt – if he dies….." Laurie's voice trailed off into something resembling a sob.

"No, honey, don't think that way." Shirley's hand began to run through Laurie's hair in comfort just as she had done earlier. "Keith's coming home to us. He has to."

Laurie finally sat up and looked at her mother. Shirley could see the guilt burning in her eyes along with the tears that could no longer be held back. "If he dies, it's my fault. He'd be here. Home with us, if I hadn't helped him. I'm so sorry Mom. I'm so sorry."

"Oh, Baby, it's not your fault." Shirley tried to pull Laurie close, but she held back.

"No, that's not true. You even said so yourself. If Danny and I hadn't lied to you, if we hadn't helped him. He'd be safe." Laurie reminded her.

"Laurie, I'm sorry. I should never have said those things. That was my anger talking. I was scared. I didn't mean it." Shirley tried to explain.

"You may have said it in anger, but that doesn't make it any less true." Laurie pointed out.

"Laurie, you couldn't have known that the kidnappers were still here. Even I had started to let my guard down. I was going to demand that the FBI either produce the kidnappers or leave us alone. I was sick of the constant intrusion, the constant reminder that my family wasn't safe." Shirley tried to get Laurie to understand. "You helped Keith because you thought he'd be safe. Keith asked you to help because he thought he'd be safe."

When Laurie still refused to see Shirley's reasoning, she tried another angle.

"Laurie, do you think Keith would have put Carol in danger if he'd suspected that the kidnappers were still around? He believed like everyone else that they were all a made up story by Marvin." Shirley finally pulled Laurie into the hug that she needed to help calm her fears.

"Oh, God, Mom. I'm so scared. I want Keith back home." Laurie hugged her mother fiercely.

"I do too, Honey. I do too." Shirley whispered into her daughter's hair as she took comfort from the closeness.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Carol jerked awake suddenly. She blinked several times before the world began to take on a hazy picture. She realized she was looking through her hair at a forest in what could only be early dawn. Once she realized that, she also came to realize that she was sprawled on top of something extremely warm. As she brought her arm up from her side, she brushed against what could only be human flesh and pushed her hair out of her eyes.

What she saw brought a smile to her lips. Keith was sleeping peacefully underneath her; well mostly underneath her. She was partially next to him and partially draped all over him. It was the confines of the sleeping bag that made their proximity as close as it was.

While her smile lingered, she became aware that the warmth emanating from Keith was much hotter than it should have been. Being pressed to him from toes to nose made it obvious that he had a raging fever. Also being this close allowed her to hear the rattle in his breathing. She watched his mouth, slightly open in sleep, as she worried at his labored breathing. His congestion was getting worse.

Her smile melted into a frown at this latest discovery.

"What's the frown for?" Keith brought her attention back to his eyes.

"What frown?" She was surprised to see him watching her sleepily.

"The one right here." Keith said playfully as he traced the frown lines between her eyes.

"Nothing." At his raised eyebrow, she decided to tease him instead of sharing her worry. "Well, it's just that you sleep with your mouth open."

"Mhmmm?" Keith's eyebrow rose a little more.

"Well, I just would never have guessed that America's heartthrob would be so….oh, I don't know, normal." Carol grinned in his face.

"Funny. Are you taking tips from Danny on how to make me feel bad?" Keith acted hurt.

"Oh, poor baby. Did I hurt your feelings?" Carol purred.

"Yes, actually, you did." Keith kept up the charade.

"I'm sorry. What can I do to make you feel better?" Carol asked earnestly.

"Well, you could kiss it and make it better." Keith suggested.

"How do you kiss a hurt ego?" Carol asked archly.

"Well, I'm not sure about anyone else, but I tend to wear my ego on my lips." Keith grinned.

"Oh, is that so?" Carol grinned back. "Well, in that case, I suppose I do owe you a major apology."

With that, she leaned in to apologize to his hurt ego.

Keith's hand wandered from her cheek, down her throat and his plan had been to pull her closer by putting his arms around her waist. That plan got sidetracked when he realized that she had only his jacket on and she hadn't bothered to button it up. His hand trailed along her bare collarbone and began to wander lower.

He idly wondered how far she'd let him go before she realized that he had a rather unimpeded track to so much bare skin.

He got his answer when he felt as well as heard her gasp of surprise when his fingers began to trace the edges of her bra. When she pulled back, Keith didn't immediately move his fingers from a place he was only too happy to be exploring.

"Keith, we're….." Carol began and then didn't know how to finish.

"Yes, we are." Keith agreed with a grin.

"You only have on your…." Carol started again and then let it trail off. She wasn't used to talking about such personal items of clothing with her boyfriends.

Keith's grin grew along with another part of his anatomy. Carol's blush made her skin almost as warm as Keith's was from his fever.

"Do you want me to stop?" Keith offered quietly.

"Yes. No." Carol said in a rush.

"Well, I'm not sure what that means exactly, so would you like to clarify?" Keith decided that a little persuasion for the answer he preferred wasn't exactly cheating. He brought his head up and kissed her. The kind of kiss that he knew was pretty good at getting him anything he wanted. A kiss that was long, slow, wet and just this side of obscene.

When he had to pull back in order to breathe, he trailed his lips over to her ear and whispered, "So is it yes or no?"

Carol was so lost at this point that she had no recollection of their conversation and had no problems admitting that. "What was the question?"

Carol didn't allow him to answer right away as she brought his mouth back to hers in order to experience the kiss that had left her completely mindless just short moments ago. Now this is exactly why she'd waited so patiently for him to ask her out. Well, at least what she'd hoped would happen when she'd waited so patiently for him to ask her out.

She had never been happier in her life. She was on cloud nine – seventh heaven – moments away from paradise.

They were on the run from kidnappers. Keith was sick and hurt. The rude thoughts somehow infringed upon her euphoria.

"Keith, we can't." She pulled away from the kiss and blurted the words quickly so that she wouldn't forget what she meant to say.

"Sure we can." Keith nuzzled her neck as she turned her head slightly sideways in order to not be tempted to melt back into the kiss that was shredding every bit of common sense she owned.

"Keith, the kidnappers." Carol said in a rush, her reserve quickly slipping.

The words had the desired effect. Keith finally stopped advancing and removed his hand from inside her bra.

"Right." He said in a clipped tone, trying to rein his wants and desires back in.

"I'm sorry." Carol said as she watched him close his eyes, as a look of pain seemed to flash across his face.

"Why? It's not your fault. There wouldn't be any kidnappers if it wasn't for me." Keith reminded her.

"Oh, Keith, it's not your fault either." Carol knew he was feeling guilty.

"Really?" Keith said in disbelief. "And, just whose fault would it be?"

"The kidnappers?" Carol said as more of a question than an answer.

Keith tried to give her a smile at her attempt to take the blame away from him. He didn't believe her, but he couldn't help but appreciate the attempt.

"I suppose we better get moving. It appears that we slept the night away." Keith glanced around the clearing and spotted his jeans and shirt hanging from a bush; hopefully dry.

"I'll go get your clothes." Carol offered having followed his eyes.

"Thanks." Keith said as he reluctantly let her leave their little cocoon.

Carol pulled the sides of Keith's jacket together as she walked away, a tinge of pink highlighting her cheeks. She couldn't help but wish they could have taken their tryst to its natural conclusion. She'd only been waiting for a little over a month for her chance. First for him to break up with Tina, then for him to get back from L.A., then to recover from being sick and now this. It wasn't fair. He was finally hers and yet he wasn't.

She needed to focus. Instead she was feeling pity for herself because she wasn't able to give herself to Keith like she'd been planning for weeks. They needed to get away from the two goons that were after them. They needed to survive. Once they did that, she could go back to her simple dreams of going all the way with Keith Partridge.

"Ummm….Carol?" Keith called Carol back from her reverie. She'd grabbed Keith's clothes from the bush and had pulled them close, holding them close to her face, breathing in his scent while she'd fantasized.

"Hmmm?" Carol jumped guiltily and spun around to face him.

"Are you going to bring them here or do I have to come and get them?" Keith sent her a wicked grin which unfortunately dissolved into a cough as he'd sat up. The change in position must have dislodged some of the mucus in his lungs.

"Oh, Keith." Carol's fears for his health were once again at the forefront of her mind. She raced over knowing that he needed to be kept warm more than anything.

"I'm alright." Keith wheezed without conviction.

"Get dressed. You need to stay warm." Carol instructed while handing him his clothes. She immediately took off his jacket too before realizing what an eye-full she gave him in the process. She realized it as soon as she looked at his face, though.

He was once again grinning like a fool.

"Get dressed. I'm going to do the same." Carol said as she headed toward her dry sweater.

She glanced over to see Keith had stepped out of the sleeping bag and was just stepping into his jeans – rather stiffly. The night on the hard ground and his bruises were doing a number on his mobility. Carol gasped when she finally got a good look at his right side. The shadows had been thick last night when she'd taken his clothes off and she'd been in a rush to get him warm. Now, she had a clear view of his bruises in the full light of day. What she saw was not comforting.

His whole side was one dark mass of bruising. Some areas were already dark blues, purples and almost blacks; while others were already sort of yellow and green. He had to be in some serious pain.

"Oh my God!" Carol couldn't hold back her exclamation. She quickly pulled her sweater over her head and headed back toward Keith. He'd heard her exclamation and looked over to see what had caused her outburst. When he realized she was looking at his bruises, he made to pull his jeans on faster, not wanting her to feel bad as she'd been driving the car that had caused it. "That's all from the accident?"

"Most of it. Some of it's from the flying tackle by, what did you call him? The jerk." Keith tried to joke it away.

"I'm so sorry. Does it hurt? Of course it does, or you wouldn't be moving like an 80 year old man." Carol said without thinking.

"That's not exactly flattering you know." Keith continued to try and tease her guilt away. "Keep this up and you'll have to kiss my ego again."

Carol couldn't stop her laugh from breaking free. He was so wonderful to make her try to feel better about causing him so much pain. "I think I might just have to kiss your ego even if it isn't hurt as much as before."

"My ego's up for it anytime you are." Keith assured her.

"Well, ego, watch out. Here I come." Carol said and proceeded to kiss away her guilt.

xoxo

"Mom?" Laurie lightly touched her mother's shoulder to wake her. She'd finally drifted off to sleep around three in the morning. She'd fought so hard to stay awake afraid that she would miss Keith coming home or worse yet, dream about something awful happening to him.

At Laurie's soft word, Shirley's eyes sprang open and she sat up quickly, her eyes flying around the room; searching for Keith, hoping against hope that he was there.

"Why don't you go up and take a quick shower. I've started the coffee." Laurie watched her mother's eyes searching and then watched the light go out of them when she didn't find Keith. Laurie knew exactly what she'd been doing. She'd done it a short while ago herself. She'd fallen asleep at the other end of the couch. A nightmare had woken her only a short time ago. Instead of waking her mother and causing her additional worry, Laurie had gone upstairs, taken a shower, changed her clothes and come back downstairs. When she found her mother still asleep, she'd headed into the kitchen and put on the coffee pot. They'd need it.

She knew the agents would be coming back into the house before too long to man the phone. They'd want to be prepared in case the kidnappers called early.

"Oh, honey, how long have you been up?" Shirley asked as she saw the sad look come over her daughter's face. She realized that Laurie had read her mind.

"Not long. I got a lot more sleep than you did." Laurie assured her quickly. No use letting her mother worry about her. She had enough to worry about with Keith.

Shirley smiled warmly at her daughter. She was being so strong. "A shower does sound good. I'll be right back."

"Take your time. I'll start some breakfast." Laurie suggested as her mother headed upstairs.

Laurie aimlessly wandered toward the kitchen. Food was the last thing on her mind, but she knew that Danny would probably be hungry when he came down. She opened the refrigerator door and glanced over its contents. Maybe cold cereal would suffice.

"Morning Laurie, where's your mom?" Reuben asked as he pushed through the swinging door between the kitchen and dining room almost knocking the refrigerator door out of Laurie's hand.

Laurie allowed the door to swing closed with the added incentive from Reuben's entrance. "She's upstairs taking a shower."

"Oh." Reuben sniffed the air. "Is that fresh coffee?"

"Sure is. Want some?" Laurie thought it strange that they were able to have such a normal conversation in such an odd situation.

"I'd love some." Reuben walked over and took a seat at the table. He knew Laurie would prepare him a cup just the way he liked it – black and strong.

Laurie set a steaming cup in front of Reuben. "Are you hungry?"

Reuben was about to say no, that his stomach wasn't up to eating when he saw Laurie wringing her hands together. She would obviously be better off if she had something to do with her hands. "Yeah, I could eat. What've you got?"

Laurie thought over what she'd seen in the refrigerator and suggested. "How do pancakes sound?"

"Great. Thanks." Reuben watched Laurie bite her lip, pause as if to say something and then just turn away to start the suggested breakfast fare.

Reuben watched her move around the kitchen efficiently. She was definitely her mother's daughter. She was just as comfortable in a kitchen as she was behind a keyboard and microphone.

As she cracked an egg into a bowl, she suddenly became very clumsy. She ended up cracking the egg much harder than she needed and egg shell joined the gooey center in the bowl of flour. Reuben could have sworn he heard her mutter a swear word, but before he could even begin to register that, she had dissolved into tears.

He jumped up from the table and immediately engulfed her in his arms. "Shh, it's alright."

"Oh, Reuben, no it's not. Keith could be dead. Because of me. I'm a terrible person." Laurie replied brokenly.

"No, Laurie, you're not a terrible person. And Keith is most definitely not dead." Reuben patted her back a little awkwardly.

"You don't know that. You can't. Oh, god, they've killed him I just know it." Her sobs grew stronger.

"What's wrong?" Shirley said as she walked through the door and found her sobbing daughter in Reuben's arms. She intercepted his almost panicked look and went to take his place comforting her daughter. "Laurie, what is it? What happened?"

"I dropped some egg shell into the pancake batter." Laurie didn't want to worry her mother and said the first thing that came to mind.

"All these tears for some ruined flour and eggs? Come on, now, what's really wrong?" Shirley moved Laurie to Reuben's abandoned chair and sat her down pulling out one adjacent to her and sat down. "Alright now, tell me what's really wrong."

"Oh, Mom, it's Keith." Laurie got no more out before she broke down into sobs again.

"Did something happen while I was upstairs?" Shirley's frightened eyes flew to Reuben for confirmation. He quickly shook his head and then shrugged not sure what really was wrong with Laurie other than simple guilt. "It's alright Baby, let it out."

Shirley scooted closer to her daughter and let her cry herself out. Reuben quietly left the room when he noticed that Shirley was allowing some of her own pent up tension to seep out in quiet tears.

After a few minutes, Laurie quieted to the occasional hiccup. "Feeling a little better?" Shirley asked.

"Not really." Laurie smiled ruefully as she pulled back from her mother. "All this over some silly pancake batter."

"How's about we throw that out and start over." Shirley suggested knowing that Laurie would talk about it when she felt she could without crying again. Shirley felt much the same way.

xoxo

Keith and Carol had been walking, even more slowly than the day before if that were possible. Keith's limping was very pronounced, but he assured Carol he could keep going.

It was going on midday when they heard someone talking not too far ahead of them. They paused, looked at each other and began to smile. They were rescued!

They began to move forward and were just about to shout out, when Keith jerked back and put his hand that had been around Carol's shoulder gently over her mouth. When she glanced at him he frowned and shook his head.

She glanced back toward the sound and waited. She couldn't quite make out what was being said, but she could very distinctly hear several male voices.

"What?" She asked very quietly.

"Don't you recognize one of those voices?" Keith whispered as he cocked his head to the side.

Carol turned back to concentrate on the conversation that was slowly beginning to come toward them. As they drew nearer, her eyes widened in surprise and fear. She turned back to Keith and noticed he was glancing around them looking for cover.

He found a dense area of bushes and, grabbing Carol's hand, pulled her toward them. Seconds after they slid down behind them, two strangers walked into view followed by 'the jerk'.

"So, you haven't seen anyone since you started your hike?" The jerk asked.

"Not a soul and that's just the way we like it. We're out here to rough it not visit with other nature lovers." The one guy answered as he hiked up his backpack further on his shoulders.

"Who'd you say you were looking for?" The second man asked as he eyed the stranger with suspicion. It seemed odd to them that they'd run into someone wearing tennis shoes instead of hiking boots and he had no equipment with him. He definitely was not camping and hiking like he'd told them.

"My friend and his girlfriend. They wandered off last night looking for some privacy, if you know what I mean." The jerk leered suggestively and the two other guys couldn't help but chuckle in sympathy. If they'd brought their girlfriends on this trip, they'd have split up for long periods of time themselves. "Anyway, they should have been back hours ago and I'm a little concerned. My buddy's girlfriend is a tenderfoot, if you know what I mean. I'm afraid something terrible might have happened."

"Well, we haven't seen them, but we'll keep an eye out for them and if we find them we'll let 'em know you're looking for them." The first guy offered and then they shook hands with the jerk before heading back off onto their hike.

Unfortunately for Carol and Keith, they were headed away from them and the jerk was just standing there stopping them from trying to call out to their potential rescuers.

Carol threw a frustrated glance at Keith but nodded when Keith just shook his head making sure she stayed absolutely quiet.

Just as every other time Keith had wanted to remain quiet, he quickly became aware of a cough that was fighting to come out. It never seemed to fail. He slowed his breathing as much as possible and kept his breaths short and shallow, hoping to hold it off as long as possible.

The jerk just stood there. Why wasn't he leaving?

Keith could see the blackness begin to encroach around his vision as he was slowly depriving his lungs of enough oxygen. He'd squatted rather painfully behind the bushes and with his vision dimming, he felt himself begin to tilt.

Carol grabbed him at the last second and quickly righted him, holding him firmly to make sure he didn't make any noise. She frowned at him and that frown grew as his eyes swung toward her. They were blank and hazed over with pain.

Carol moved as quietly as possible in hopes of keeping Keith upright. She bit her lip as a cramp settled in her own calf while she pulled Keith toward her.

She glanced up to see the jerk finally begin to walk away from them. She prayed that he would move faster.

She felt a shiver run through Keith as he fought to stay conscious and still.

After several minutes of silence, where the forest noises began to return to normal now that the humans had passed, Carol finally felt safe in speaking. "Ok, he's gone. Are you alright?"

She was answered by a round of deep, mucus laden coughing from Keith that sent him the rest of the way to the forest floor. He coughed steadily for a minute and then gasped for breath for several minutes after that. The whole time, Carol rubbed his back and worried.

Once he was done, she quickly looked up to see if 'the jerk' had heard them. She saw nothing. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." Keith said quietly almost as if he was too tired to talk.

"Well, then let's get out of here." Carol suggested.

"You ain't going nowhere." The jerk said from behind them.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

The tension in the house had been building all day. Lunch had come and gone with not even Danny suggesting that he was hungry.

They all jumped when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." The agent by the phone suggested as he watched the family members freeze in panic.

They all stood up from the couch and turned toward the door. The agent opened the door to a man in a suit carrying a rather large duffle bag. He glanced at the agent standing behind him and raised a brow.

"He's from the record company." The agent who was stationed outside informed him.

"Oh, then that must be the money." The first agent said as he nodded toward the bag.

"That's right." The man in the suit said nervously. He wasn't exactly comfortable carrying around as much cash as he currently had; even he had never been alone and had always had at least two FBI agents with him at all times.

"Phil?" Reuben had finally decided to find out who was at the door. He'd spotted Phil as soon as the large agent who was currently in the house moved slightly to the side.

"Reuben." Phil said with what almost sounded like relief. His part of this whole mess would soon be over. He couldn't wait to hand off the ransom money.

"Let him in." Reuben suggested to the agent who finally moved completely aside so that Phil could enter. "Shirley, this is Phil Watson from the record company. He's got…well, the money."

"Mr. Watson, thank you." Shirley said as she stepped around her children and went to welcome the man in the door. He was definitely a welcomed guest as he held the key to getting her son back.

"Mrs. Partridge, Bell Records wants you to know that we would have paid any amount to get your son back." Phil said, repeating the words his boss had instructed him to say almost verbatim.

"Thank you, that's comforting to know." Shirley said all the while thinking that she hoped that never became public knowledge or who knew how many freaks would attempt to kidnap her son.

"Phil, set that down and come in. Would you like a cup of coffee?" Shirley asked.

Phil couldn't believe that the woman was acting like a perfect hostess when her son was in such danger. He could only guess that she was trying to keep the rest of her life as normal as possible.

"Coffee sounds good." Phil said as he set down the heavy bag and let Reuben lead him further into the living room. He really just wanted to run away from the tension that he could feel filling the room.

"Phil, this is Laurie and Danny Partridge." Reuben introduced the only two Partridge kids who were still in the house.

"I enjoy your music." Phil said as he nodded at the two people he recognized from pictures up around the company.

"Thank you." Laurie said while Danny just shook his head at the adults' attempt to keep things normal when they were anything but.

"Here you go. Did you want some cream or sugar?" Shirley asked as she handed him a steaming cup.

"No, black is fine." He really would have liked cream and sugar, but he didn't want to stay in the house that was already making him nervous as a cat. He quickly took a big gulp and regretted it as he could feel his tongue and the roof of his mouth burn. He ignored it and smiled as he swallowed the hot liquid; feeling the burn all the way down.

Shirley waved him to a seat and they began a stilted conversation that avoided the only topic of conversation that was on anyone's mind. While the adults did their best to ignore reality, Danny quietly sidled toward the duffle bag.

He just wanted to take a look at the money before it was used to free his brother. He knew it would be a very long time before he was around that sum of money again. Well, sooner than most people thought, but too long by his estimation. He knew that some day he'd be a millionaire, but for now this duffle bag was a fascination he could not ignore.

He slid the zipper open as quietly as he could. He glanced up to see that no one noticed him, so he kept going. Once it was opened, he paused and had to hold in his gasp of wonder. There were stacks of money. Stacks upon stacks of money. It was truly a beautiful sight. Hundred dollar bills held together by little paper wraps.

He slowly brought his hand forward and gently touched one of the stacks almost expecting to be shocked for being so bold. When nothing happened, he ran his thumb along the side of the stack ruffling the edges. The smell that wafted out of the bag was that of what he assumed was ink.

He glanced over at the adults to make sure he still hadn't been noticed. When he realized they were still trying to have a forced but normal conversation, he picked up one of the stacks and had every intention of counting every last bill in that stack. It was a dream come true.

He pealed back the first bill, counting one hundred in his head, and then pealed back the next bill, counting two hundred. He only got as far as five hundred when the next bill was a blank piece of paper cut to the same size. "Hey!" slipped out of his mouth before he could stop it.

"Daniel Partridge, what are you doing?" Shirley said in shock and embarrassment. She should have known that the pull of money would be too great for Danny to resist.

"They gypped us!" Danny said while waving the stack of bills in his hand.

"What are you talking about?" Laurie said as she walked toward Danny, the rest of the people in the room right behind her.

"It's not all here. The stacks aren't all bills. Some of the bills are just blank pieces of paper." Danny glared at Phil Watson in accusation.

xoxo

Keith and Carol spun toward the jerk as his words sunk in. They stared down the barrel of his gun.

"It's about time I found the two of you." The jerk gloated.

Keith swallowed heavily and slowly rose to his feet; Carol rose too, holding Keith's hand while hiding behind him.

"You caused me all kinda problems and you're gonna pay for that. Larry's been ridin' my ass since you gave me the slip, so don't think I won't make you pay for every moment of embarrassment I've suffered." Jerk said and then rubbed the back of his head. Feeling the lump Keith had left him with by bashing his head with the rock, he glowered and threatened. "I owe ya for this goose egg on my head too. Payback's gonna be so sweet."

Keith had no desire to even think about that comment, much less feel any of the pain that the jerk was threatening with those words, so he quickly swung into action. He flung their bag with the food at the jerk. He knew it had several cans of stew in it so had some heft too it. He just hoped it was heavy enough to knock him off balance long enough for he and Carol to make a break for it.

As he felt the bag make contact with the jerk's arm holding the gun, he started to move, pulling Carol behind him and yelling, "Run!"

Carol did not have to be told twice. After her first moment of surprise, she was quickly running stride for stride with Keith through the woods. They knew they had very little lead on the jerk and that Keith's surprise attack would only stop him for seconds, so they ran with as much speed as the woods would allow them.

Keith felt branches scraping and cutting his face as he ran, but could not pause to push them out of the way. He ran, ignoring the pain in his knee and hip. He ran, ignoring the burning of his lungs as they labored to pull in precious air. He ran, to stay alive.

xoxo

"How do you expect to get Keith back with this – this fake stash?" Danny waved the stack harder under Phil's nose now that he was close enough.

"Well, Danny…." Phil started awkwardly. Reuben and Shirley knew that the record company hadn't had enough time to pull together the additional amount the kidnappers had asked for, but Danny had slept through that conversation. Laurie knew part of it, but had woken up during the conversation and hadn't heard it all.

"Danny, calm down." Shirley said as she grabbed her son's arm and brought it down from underneath Phil's face.

"But Mom, they didn't bring the money like they promised." Danny swung toward his mother and then said what he knew would hurt her because he thought she had to hear it. "They're going to get Keith killed!"

"Danny, stop, please." Shirley begged and glanced toward Reuben. She knew he had to be told but was dreading the conversation.

"Danny, we knew the record company wasn't going to be able to come up with all the money. The kidnappers didn't give us enough time." Reuben started.

"What do you mean?" Danny asked much more quietly; fear edging into this voice.

"They were ready with the quarter million we thought they'd ask for. They upped it to half a million and didn't give them enough time to liquidate assets." Reuben spoke in terms he thought Danny would understand.

"Makes sense. It takes time to turn certain assets into cash. I understand that, but what'll happen to Keith?" Danny could grasp the intricacies of money, but would not, could not, grasp what that might mean to Keith.

"We hope they don't realize that we don't have it all until after we've made the swap." Reuben just said it, hoping Danny wouldn't question it too much.

"Oh. I guess that makes sense." Danny frowned and looked down. He looked back up when a thought occurred to him. "What if they want to count it before they hand over Keith?"

Reuben opened his mouth to answer and then just as quickly closed it. It was the one question he couldn't answer. He looked away and then back before quietly saying, "I don't know, kid. I just don't know."

xoxo

They ran – and ran. They knew they were being followed. They could hear the crashing behind them. Thankfully they were both smaller than the big jerk that followed them. They purposely ran through spaces between trees that they thought he might not be able to make it through.

They kept going, because there was no other choice.

Keith's lungs burned and he wanted nothing more than to stop and breath – stop and cough. He knew he couldn't run much longer. His breath was already labored and the darkness was once again beginning to dim his vision. Before too long, his oxygen deprived lungs would affect his brain; from there his muscles would stop doing what he asked of them. Something had to happen or they were about to be taken hostage once again.

Keith noticed a brightness up ahead. At first he thought about avoiding it thinking that if they broke into the open, they were easy targets. The problem was that he didn't know exactly where behind them the jerk really was. If he chose the wrong direction to turn they might just run right into him. They'd just have to run across the clearing as fast as possible. It wasn't a great choice, but it was the best choice at this point.

He broke into the clearing and veered as quickly as possible to the left by grabbing a tree with his left hand. It wasn't a clearing, but a sheer drop of about 40 feet. Without the help of the tree, he would have gone crashing headlong down the drop off. As it was, Carol had no idea why he so suddenly changed direction and had no hope of doing the same herself. As she felt the earth drop out from below her feet, she had the presence of mind to grab Keith's right hand that had been grasped firmly in her left hand with her other hand as well. Her momentum sent her flying off into space for a few breathtaking moments. She had neither breath to scream nor any time.

She felt herself being jerked back by her arms and her wide eyes flew to Keith as he took her full weight on his right arm, holding onto the tree with his left for dear life. She saw a flash of pain cross his face and then the lower half of her body was slamming into the face of the drop off.

As she dangled over the drop off, the jerk came breaking through the trees just feet from where she and Keith had broken through. With both hands firmly on his gun, the jerk had no time to react to the drop off. He suddenly ran out of ground. His legs made a running motion in thin air for a good two steps before he even realized that there was nothing below him any longer. Keith and Carol watched him fall into the nothingness below him. About half way down, he realized what was happening and they heard his short but frightened scream silenced at the same instant they heard a loud thud.

Carol had watched him all the way down, but turned just as he hit the bottom having no desire to see the effects of what must have been a deadly fall. Her frightened eyes flew back to Keith to see him above her; his eyes closed in concentration as he slowly began to pull her back to the top of the cliff.

She held her breath and tried to find any foothold she could find to help him pull her up. Without her help, Keith would have likely not succeeded. He was sure that his shoulder had popped out of joint when it had taken Carol's weight as she had fallen into the open space. He concentrated on not passing out from the pain and the lack of oxygen to his starved lungs that had been causing him problems before this latest ridiculousness.

As soon as Carol scrambled the last few inches to the top, Keith collapsed onto the ground and gasp for breath. As soon as he had enough, he began to cough; deep wrenching coughs that he thought would never end. He had pulled his hand away from Carol as soon as he knew she was safe and now cradled the injured limb to his stomach.

Carol sat next to him gasping for breath herself and watching him with worry. She didn't know what to do to help him and she could feel the helpless tears falling down her cheeks.

"Oh God, Keith, please." Carol begged not sure if she was asking him to stop coughing or to just be alright.

After several minutes, Keith finally was able to stifle the urge to cough. He was tired and weak; too weak to form words just yet, so he just lay there breathing heavily.

"Keith, please, talk to me." Carol had crawled next to him and gently pushed his hair back from his face.

"Is he dead?" Were the first words out of Keith's mouth.

"I'm pretty sure. I didn't watch him land, but, yeah, I'm pretty sure he's dead." Carol stumbled over the words. She'd never seen anyone die before, but she was pretty sure she just had. Well, almost had.

"Good." Keith said weakly and didn't open his eyes. He wasn't sure how Carol would take that, but right now he didn't care. One less kidnapper was a good thing, right?

"Yes, that is good." Carol agreed vehemently.

Keith finally opened his eyes to see her watching him with a look of worry on her face, not the look of horror he'd expected her to have at his wishing the kidnapper dead.

"Can you sit up?" Carol said without missing a beat.

"I think so." Keith said but quickly realized it would be hard while he cradled his definitely injured shoulder.

"Let me help." Carol said as she moved to his left side and tried to help him lift his body to a sitting position. "How bad is it?"

Keith watched her motion to his shoulder and winced. "Not sure. It's not right, though. It hurts when I move my arm."

"It's probably dislocated or separated." Carol told him trying to remember as much of her first aid training as she could. No matter how much she remembered, though, Keith was going to need a doctor to get that fixed.

"Oh, is that all." Keith joked and then winced.

"You aren't going to be able to do much walking with that. It'll hurt too much." Carol realized.

"Well, we can't just wait here to be found." Keith reasoned.

"No, I don't suppose we can. I could bring help back." Carol suggested.

"No, I can make it." Keith said as he tried to stand up. The motion proved to be too painful and he sagged back to the ground. "On second thought, your idea is much better."

"I can't just leave you here like this. You have no protection." Carol reminded him.

"Right, the sleeping bag and our supplies are back where we met up with the jerk." Keith remembered. "At least I had the canteen slung over my shoulder."

"I don't think I could find my way back to where the rest of our stuff is. I guess I better just hike out of here and bring help as quickly as possible." Carol bit her lip. It wasn't the best suggestion, but it was the only one that made sense.

"Go, I'll be fine." Keith tried for one of his best grins. As the pain in his shoulder made itself known when another coughing fit could not be denied, he added. "Hurry."

"I'll be back so fast, you won't even know I'm gone." Carol leaned forward and placed a quick hard kiss on his lips.

"Hey, what was that for, my ego is just fine." Keith joked, hoping to send her off in a better frame of mind; one where she didn't worry about him but concentrated on finding help.

"It should be, you just saved my life." Carol grinned back. "You're my hero."

"In that case, I think I deserve another kiss before you leave. After all, I was injured while saving your life." Keith kept a serious look on his face.

"Well, I do have to get moving so that I can return the favor, but here goes." Carol giggled just before leaning in for another kiss.

Keith reached up with his left hand to hold her there and deepened the kiss. If he ended up dying out here, he was going to have his last kiss be a good one.

Carol pulled back and opened her eyes slowly. She drank in the face in front of her; the face that could stop traffic. It was bruised and battered, it had several small cuts that had bled but now dried and his lips were chapped yet with all that he was still the best looking man she'd ever known. Could she leave him here alone? What if she couldn't bring help in time? What if she couldn't lead them back to him?

"What are you looking at? Go, get help." Keith didn't like the melancholy look on her face.

"Nothing, I just thought I might have bruised your ego and wanted to be sure it didn't need kissing." Carol pulled herself from her melancholy thoughts. She'd save him. She had to. She really did want to kiss his ego every day. His ego and so much more.

Keith pulled her in one more time for a kiss that curled Carol's toes inside her shoes and made her want to stay right where she was forever.

Keith finally pushed her slightly away and did his best to grin at her. "Go, please. Kissing is hard on the shoulder."

"Be safe. Please." Carol whispered as she finally stood up. She turned once more before walking back into the woods. She caught Keith moving slowly and painfully so that he was leaning against a tree. She watched him lean back and close his eyes while blowing out a painful breath.

When he opened his eyes he saw her watching him and put on a smile, waving with his good arm. She blew him a kiss and disappeared.

xoxo

Much as she was expecting it, Shirley jumped when the phone rang. She bit her lip and looked at the agent who waved her over.

"Keep 'em talking as long as possible. Agree to anything he says and offer to let him talk to Reuben seeing he's going to make the drop. Maybe it'll allow us to get a fix on him this time." The agent instructed as Shirley walked quickly to the phone.

"Hello." She said softly; too softly. She had to say it again before the kidnapper answered.

"So, you've followed my instructions to the letter, right?" Came the disembodied voice.

"Yes, of course. I want my son back." Shirley reminded him why she'd be a fool not to. "Please let me talk to him."

"I don't think so." The kidnapper answered quickly.

"Why not? You said you'd let me talk to him if I followed your instructions. I did. I have your money." Shirley quickly added in what she hoped was a truthful voice. "All of it."

"Of course you did. It's just that, well, I'm in a public place and it's not like I could bring your famous son to such a place, right?" The kidnapper hoped he sounded truthful too.

"How do I know you haven't hurt him?" Shirley said the words she dreaded might be true.

"You'll just have to trust me lady." The kidnapper snapped.

"Please tell me how he is." Shirley knew she was begging, but didn't care.

"He's fine, now put your manager on. I need to tell him where to meet me with the money. No money, no singer. Remember that." The kidnapper growled.

"Please don't hurt him. I told you we have the money. Here's Reuben." Shirley blinked the moisture from her eyes and felt the tears begin to trace down her cheeks as she handed the phone to a very nervous Reuben.

"This is Reuben Kincaid. I'm the family's manager." He said by way of introduction to the criminal.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. You have the money right now?" The kidnapper asked.

"Yes, it's right next to me." Reuben assured him.

"Alright, pick it up and go to the gas station three miles out of town on the old Town Line Road. There's a pay phone there. You've got 10 minutes. If you don't pick up when I call, the kid dies. Got it?" The kidnapper threw the instructions out quickly.

"I'll be there." Reuben didn't address the kidnapper's threat because he had no intention of missing that call. How could he let down his favorite family? His only family outside of his loving mother?

"Reuben?" Shirley said as she watched Reuben set down the phone.

"I've got to go. I need to be outside of town in 10 minutes. I'll bring him home Shirley. I promise." Reuben said giving her a quick hug as he picked up the bag and walked out of the house without a backward glance.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Keith decided he couldn't just sit there and wait. Well, he could, he just wanted to be absolutely sure that the jerk was really dead at the bottom of the ravine.

He painfully pushed himself up from his seated position and held onto the tree until the world stopped spinning. This was getting to be a little too much of a regular thing for his tastes. He really needed to get this fever under control or he was likely to be dizzy for the foreseeable future.

He winced as he pushed away from the tree and walked very slowly to the edge. He stopped before getting too close knowing that his balance was already a bit of a risk to then look down. He finally spotted a small tree close enough to the edge to hang onto and lean over without risking taking a header himself.

By the time he limped his way over to it, the sun was starting to go down behind the trees and were those rain clouds coming in? He sure hoped not, but with the way his luck had been lately, he wasn't too hopeful. He turned from the ominous clouds and glanced down. He thought he saw a lifeless form lying at the bottom, but he couldn't be sure. The light had become too dim. Shit.

What if the guy wasn't dead down there and was already hiking his way back up the cliff? Keith wasn't about to stick around and find out. He'd be taken hostage again as sure as he was standing here.

Ok, he needed to find a hiding place; one not too far away so that he'd be around when Carol brought back help.

He hugged his arm close and limped into the edge of the woods. He also needed to think about keeping warm and dry if those clouds he saw were real. It got mighty cold in the woods at night not to mention the fact that he might soon be wet.

He found a small bower that suited his needs just perfectly. The ground was covered in pine boughs and the space was fairly tight with fallen logs on either side. He could squeeze himself in between and conserve as much body heat as possible. Oh, who was he kidding, he was burning up with fever, getting cold might just do him good. No, that couldn't be right. Whenever he'd gotten a fever his mother had said he needed to stay warm. If it did rain, all bets were off.

Why in the world was he having this argument with himself? He needed to squeeze into this spot for safety reasons. Staying warm or not, was not the only concern at this point.

Keith sighed while slowly and painfully working his way into the space. Once settled, he gave way to the coughing attack that seemed to be coming more frequently and then closed his eyes hoping for the oblivion of sleep.

xoxo

Reuben drove like a maniac to get to the gas station by the required time. He hadn't even stopped to see if the FBI had gotten a fix on the kidnappers. He didn't really care because if they hadn't and he didn't make the drop point, the consequences were unthinkable.

He pulled his car to a screeching halt just as the phone started to ring. He bounded out and pushed a man out of his way so that he could get to the phone. As he picked it up, he paused briefly remembering that he had left the duffle in his unlocked car. He spun around to make sure he kept an eye on it.

"Kincaid here." He barked into the phone.

"Very good. You've done exactly as I've asked. Next stop is fifteen miles due east of where you are. Another pay phone at a diner. You better get going, you've got 10 minutes. Hope you don't mind speeding." The kidnapper chuckled and hung up.

Reuben sprinted to his car and absently noticed a nondescript car pulling onto the road not too far behind him. Must be the FBI, was his absent thought. It brought him some comfort, but he'd rather they found Keith and let Reuben fend for himself. Keith was the one in danger, not him.

xoxo

Carol walked until it was too dark to walk, then she sat down for a few minutes to assess her situation. The flashlights had been in the bundle with the sleeping bag. Neither she nor Keith would have the comfort of light in the dark forest. She momentarily worried about the fact that she might be approached by wild animals with nothing to fend them off with. She could not afford to be eaten by a bear.

The ridiculousness of that thought made her laugh out loud.

"Get control of yourself, Carol." She talked to herself hoping the sound of her own voice would help her to calm down. "No need to panic. It's just the woods. Most of the animals out here are more afraid of you than you are of them, right?"

"The operative word there was most." Carol reminded herself. "Knock it off. You will not panic. Keith's counting on you."

Carol felt a little better after finishing her pep talk.

What to do next? She couldn't just wander around in the dark. She'd end up walking in circles.

She needed water. She'd left the canteen with Keith knowing that with his fever, he needed it worse than she did. She tilted her head sideways as she thought she heard the faint sounds of rushing water. Could she be this lucky?

She began to walk with her hands out in front of her to stop her from walking face first into a tree. Within a couple of minutes, she was certain she heard rushing water. She hurried her steps only slightly as the woods were dense and she really didn't want to end up with a broken nose.

A few more minutes and she broke out of the woods and almost stumbled into the stream. The moon was filtered overhead but bright enough for her to see the water and she almost laughed out loud at her luck. She fell down on her knees and drank her fill.

She glanced up as the darkness seemed to get deeper. She noticed clouds blowing past the moon and thought she might have seen darker, more ominous clouds further away. Would it rain? Oh, God please, no. Keith was too sick to get wet. She felt tears forming as her frustration grew. She had no time to dawdle to decide her next move. She just needed to keep moving.

With the help of the dimming moon, she decided to walk by following the banks of the stream. She knew from the position of the moon that she would be walking in the direction she'd decided on when she'd started. She was heading due west.

Hopefully toward her rescue.

xoxo

Keith jerked awake. His eyes blinked open only to find total darkness. He snickered lowly. Good, Laurie hadn't found him yet.

His fever was raging high and Keith was reliving a memory from his past. He and Laurie were playing hide and seek in the house. It was raining out and his mother had insisted they find something quiet to do as Danny was down for his nap.

Laurie had suggested hide and seek and Keith agreed if she was 'it' first. He told her to count to 100 before looking for him. He knew that gave him extra time because Laurie always had trouble once she got over 50. He knew she was too honest to come until she'd actually counted to 100. She might even go looking for their mom to help her. He had plenty of time to hide.

He'd found a beauty of a hiding place too. He was in the attic. The attic was full of old musty boxes. Laurie always said it probably had loads of spiders, so she wouldn't come and look for him there until a last resort.

He'd been sitting there for a good 15 minutes behind a bunch of those musty old boxes, when he realized how dark it was. At first it didn't bother him, but as time went by, the few shadows he could see began to make him think about critters that were bigger than spiders. What if there was a big rat in the attic with him? He tensed as he thought he heard something scurry across the floor. Naw, it had to be his imagination. His mother would never allow a rat in her house much less a mouse.

The wind rushing through the trees made the tree branches sway around Keith's hiding place. In his mind, the swaying branches were moving ghosts inside the attic at home. He tensed further and started chanting quietly, 'come on Laurie, find me'. He knew he would be declared the loser if he came out too early. How much longer did he have to wait?

xoxo

Reuben rushed through the door of the diner and screamed. "No! Don't touch it!" At the tired looking waitress who was moving to pick up the ringing pay phone.

"No problem, honey, it's all yours." She said while giving him a strange look.

"Kincaid!" He yelled just as abruptly as soon as he picked it up.

"That one was close. I almost hung up on you." The kidnapper said in a chastising voice.

"Well, I'm here. How much longer are we going to do this? I thought you wanted the money. No more games. Where do I meet you?" Reuben's fear of almost missing the call made him courageous; or was it foolish. He wasn't sure.

"You don't get to make demands, you hear me?" The kidnapper snapped.

"Sorry, it's just that I will not be the reason that the Partridge Family looses their son. I can't be that reason." Reuben just said it like it was.

"Awww, my heart bleeds for you." The kidnapper said sarcastically. "Good thing for you, I'm sick of this little game too. Your next stop is the drop. You better be by yourself. If you're not, I've got a gun that says you WILL be the reason that this little bird don't sing. You don't wanna break his Mama's heart do you?"

"You know I don't. I'll be alone." Reuben assured him and glared holes into the FBI agent who came strolling into the diner and sat down nonchalantly at the counter allowing the waitress to pour him a cup of coffee.

"There's an old abandoned gravel pit another 5 miles due east of you. Pull in and drive up to the shack. Turn off your car, no lights. Get out and wait for me. I'll come to you." The kidnapper hung up before Reuben could acknowledge him.

"He says I have to be alone. You make sure of that." Reuben said as he walked by the FBI agent. The agent nodded and let Reuben walk away.

xoxo

Carol had been walking for a good two hours following the stream. The moon was growing dimmer and dimmer but so far she'd avoided too many mishaps. She'd tripped only once and was limping slightly from her injured toe.

She rubbed her hands up and down her arms hoping to generate some warmth. She looked ahead and had to blink several times; was she hallucinating? She stopped walking to be sure she saw what she thought she saw. It was a low burning campfire. She was sure of it.

She almost laughed out loud she was so happy.

No, wait. What if it was the other kidnapper? She couldn't just blunder into their kidnapper's camp. She'd have to be smart about this.

She moved slowly and quietly along the streambed and tiptoed into the camp. There were two sleeping forms curled up in very warm looking sleeping bags, their heads the only part of their bodies sticking out of a small v-shaped tent. She shivered at the thought of being snuggled up in the sleeping bag with Keith just the night before. Why did it seem like a lifetime ago?

She was trying to decide the best way to announce her presence when a voice said quietly, "Don't come any closer. I have a weapon."

"Don't shoot. I need help." Carol said quickly.

"You're a girl?" The guy said as he sat up and turned on his flashlight pointing it directly at Carol, blinding her.

"Yes, I am and I need help. Please." She added quickly.

"What are you doing out here? Josh, wake up, man." The first man said to his friend who groaned and rolled over.

"Holy shit Trey, what's a girl doing in our camp?" Josh said as he rubbed his eyes and expertly wiggled his way out of his cocoon.

"I'm not sure yet. Says she needs help." Trey was already on his feet. "Alright, I was lying about the weapon, though this flashlight could do plenty of damage used properly. Don't be scared, we won't hurt you, right Josh?"

Carol had been having second thoughts about approaching two male strangers, but guessed it was a little late for that.

"We were kidnapped. I need to get to the police." Carol blurted out.

"We?" Josh asked as he took his own flashlight and moved it around beyond Carol looking for another person.

"Yes, Keith and I. I had to leave him behind. He's hurt and we knew he wouldn't be able to walk very far, so I went for help." Carol had been fine until now, all of a sudden the tears opened like a flood gate. In a voice that was now almost indistinguishable because of her crying she begged. "Please, help me. Help us. Please."

xoxo

"What took you so long?" Keith said to Laurie as she finally, carefully walked up into the attic and found him among the boxes. He felt like he'd been there for several days at least.

"I was trying to find you." She defended herself. "It's not that easy when you hide in the darkest and scariest spot you can think of."

"It may be dark, but it's not scary." Keith could talk tough now that he wasn't alone any more. He walked back to the door now that the game was over only to find that the knob wouldn't turn. Laurie saw his actions and figured he was teasing her.

"Keith Partridge, you let me out right now." Laurie demanded.

"What, don't tell me Laurie Partridge is afraid of the dark?" Keith teased her just to cover his own moment of panic.

"No more than you are. You sure looked scared when I opened the door and found you looking wide-eyed at who knows what." Laurie said bravely.

"I wasn't scared, you just blinded me with the sudden light when you opened the door." Keith tried to cover.

"Come on, let's get out of here." Laurie shoved her brother and reached for the door handle herself.

He watched her turn the knob with the same result he'd had – nothing. "Hmmm, must be jammed."

"Knock it off, Keith. You locked it when you jiggled it before." Laurie demanded.

"I did not. It just won't open." Keith jiggled the knob again with the same results.

"Let me try, again." Laurie slapped his hand away from the knob and grabbed it. She turned, but it just slid in her hand. "What did you do to it?"

"Nothing. Honest." Keith said in his defense.

"Keith, get us out of here." Laurie was close to crying and moved closer to her brother as she looked around at the scary darkness all around them.

"Laurie I can't. The door is jammed." Keith reminded her.

"What'll we do? We'll die in here." Laurie whispered her fear.

"Naw, we won't die. Mom'll find us." Keith assured her.

"She won't look for us until dinner time. She'll just be glad we're playing quietly and not waking Danny." Laurie reminded him.

"So, we wait until Danny wakes up. When mom comes up to get him we'll yell for her to come and get us out." Keith said bravely as he watched the moving shadows close in once again. But, he had to be brave for his little sister. He put his arm around her shoulder and slid down the wall pulling her with him. "We'll be fine. You'll see."

"You're sure?" Laurie asked as she shivered against her big brother's body.

"Positive. I'll protect you." Keith assured her and spent the next couple of hours doing just that.

xoxo

Reuben stepped from his car and grabbing the duffle bag, he leaned against the hood of the car to wait. He shivered in the damp wind even under the windbreaker he'd put on before leaving Shirley and the kids back at the house.

He wasn't standing there for more than 5 minutes when he heard a noise from behind the shack he'd had no trouble finding.

"You alone?" A disembodied voice said from the shadows.

"Of course." Reuben answered immediately.

"You got my money?" The voice asked.

"Right here." Reuben tapped the bag with his foot.

"Open it up and let me see it." Came the reply.

"It's pretty dark out here. You sure you can make sure it's real?" Reuben wanted to get a good look at this guy and unless he came out of the shadows, there was no hope of that.

"Oh, I'll look at it alright. Just open the case." He was instructed.

Reuben leaned over and unzipped the bag. He picked up one of the stacks making sure that the bill on top was visible. "Happy?"

"Not yet, but I will be very shortly." That comment was followed by an almost gleeful laugh.

"Where's Keith? No money until I get Keith." Reuben put the money back in the bag and zipped it back up.

"He's not here. You think I'm dumb enough to bring him where you could get the drop on me?" The kidnapper reasoned.

"Get the drop on you? I'm alone. You were here before me. You should've put Keith in the shack and we could have exchanged and parted ways." Reuben reasoned back.

"That's one option. Too bad this isn't your show. It's mine. Now toss the bag over here." Reuben was instructed.

"No." Reuben said bravely.

"What do you mean no?" Came the angry retort.

"No money until I get Keith…..and Carol." Reuben almost forgot to ask for her. Man, how could he forget!

"You wanna die, man?" The guy asked almost conversationally.

"Not particularly." Reuben answered honestly.

"Then don't be a hero. Toss the bag over. I'll tell you where to find Partridge and his girlfriend." The man demanded.

"No." Reuben said again. "I don't part with this money until I have the kid. I promised his mother."

"Oh well, in that case." The guy started reasonably and then spat. "Are you f*cking nuts? You are not giving the orders here. Piss me off any more and I might just kill you, grab the money and then go shoot the kid just to make me feel better. Understand?"

Suddenly all of the bravado went out of Reuben. He decided that asking nicely was worth a shot. "Look man, I cannot disappointment Shirley. I promised her I'd bring him home with me."

"You're breaking my heart man." The guy said sarcastically. "Toss the bag over or I will shoot you."

"Alright, fine. Here." Reuben tossed the bag.

"Good job. Thanks." The man said and hefted the bag onto his shoulder.

"Where's Keith?" Reuben yelled to the man as he walked away.

All he received for his question was a maniacal laugh.

"You son of a bitch!" Reuben didn't think about his actions he simply ran after the man with blood in his eyes.

xoxo

Keith knew he was floating somewhere between reality and a dream world. He could feel his body shivering with cold yet burning up with fever. The shivers racked his body and caused him immense pain. Partridge, you are a wreck, was all he could think as another shiver caused him to bite back a moan of pain.

When the pain was at its worst, he knew he was in the woods hiding out waiting for Carol to bring back help. He knew it because his shoulder ached something fierce, his lungs burned and his body was hot and heavier than he could ever remember it feeling.

At other times, he was a little kid and he had Laurie by his side. They were locked in the attic trying to keep each other calm while they waited for Danny to wake up from his nap.

She'd been crying, telling him how scared she was. He'd joked and cajoled her into laughing. It had kept him calm trying to keep her calm.

She really was his best friend.

He would wake up from this half-dream state thinking about her and how bad she must feel about letting him talk her into helping him sneak out of the house.

He'd owe her the biggest apology and she'd make him pay for this for a very long time. She might even give him the silent treatment. Oh, he hated that probably most of all.

She'd given him the silent treatment only after their worst fights. Most of them since they'd both hit puberty. As soon as he started liking girls, she became little miss women's lib. Yeah, like she was even old enough to be labeled a woman at that time.

What made it even worse was when Laurie started liking the same boys that liked her. That meant dating and that meant overprotective older brother went into active mode.

Those two converging issues had caused some of Keith and Laurie's biggest arguments to date. It had gotten worse once the group had made it big. Laurie would accuse Keith of using his fame to get dates. Well, yeah, of course he did. Was it his fault girls were even easier for him to get now that he had some fame to go along with the looks that had had girls falling at his feet before? Laurie sure thought so at times.

But she was one to talk. Her looks made guys fall all over her too. Was it his fault that sometimes as an older brother it was his duty to scare a few of them off? I mean, knowing what he knew about some of those guys there was no way they were getting near his sister.

Laurie not talking to him was a small price to pay for keeping her safe. Well, it was a small price, until he needed his best friend to talk through an issue with. Or until she wasn't talking to him when he needed to work out a song that was giving him fits. She was always such a good sounding board. She never pulled her punches, yet she would tell him something sucked in such a way that he was never insulted. She was so good to him and vice versa.

He wondered idly what she would do if he never came back. Would she be alright without an older brother?

Would she be alright without her best friend?


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Reuben saw red!

What he didn't realize was that the red he saw was a lightening flash that hit the small shack he'd been standing near not just a few moments ago. The strike made the kidnapper pause for just a second and that's all Reuben needed.

Reuben left his feet in the flying tackle he'd learned back in high school as a middle linebacker. No one looking at him today would have guessed that he'd been a passable football player, but his leap forward was a thing of beauty to the FBI agents quickly converging on the area.

They watched the manager spring forward and then propel himself over the last few feet with a ferocious growl beginning from deep inside him.

Reuben barely felt the impact of hitting the kidnapper in the middle of his back with his left shoulder. The kidnapper was taller and bigger than Reuben. He also carried quite a few more pounds of muscle than the man who made his living mostly behind a desk or on a phone.

None of this even entered Reuben's mind. He was oblivious to everything but pounding the truth out of the man who had taken Keith.

As soon as they landed with a loud 'woof' of pain, Reuben was already pushing himself to a more upright position. He flipped the stunned kidnapper onto his back with an inhuman show of strength and then proceeded to straddle the guy. He grabbed a chunk of the guy's shirt front and jacket, lifting him off the ground slightly.

Reuben stuck his face within inches of the kidnapper's and growled, "You will tell me where Keith is right now, or you die. Right here!"

The kidnapper swallowed hard and blinked at the mad bull who was breathing hard, directly into his face. "Go to hell." He said with a bravado that was quickly fading.

"After you." Reuben drew back his right fist and punched the guy as hard as he could in the nose. He felt the cartilage crunch under his knuckles.

The kidnapper yowled in pain and brought his hands up too late.

"Talk, you piece of trash or I'll beat you until you'd wish you were in hell!" Reuben threatened.

The kidnapper was too stunned by the actions of a man he'd pegged as a wimp and a buffoon to answer.

Reuben drew his arm back and threw another punch at the kidnapper who was now practically whimpering in pain. This fist made contact with the side of the man's jaw and his head flew back hard enough that Reuben lost his grip on the guy's shirt. Without the support, the kidnapper's head flew back into the hard ground.

As another lightning flash and clap of thunder filled the immediate area, the FBI agents finally made their way to Reuben's side.

The first one there grabbed Reuben's arm which had been drawn back for delivery of another blow. "Mr. Kincaid!" When that did not seem to have an effect, the agent yelled. "Reuben!"

"Let go!" Reuben finally recognized why his arm wasn't following his brain's instructions to beat the filthy jerk in front of him to a bloody pulp.

"Can't do that. We need him to talk." The agent tried to reason with the man who did not want to hear it.

"I'll make him talk. Just give me a couple more minutes." Reuben bargained.

"In a couple of minutes, he won't be able to. Come on, Reuben, let him go." The agent kept his voice calm hoping to break through the angry haze he knew Reuben was currently in the midst of.

"He hasn't told me where Keith is and he isn't here like he promised." Reuben pointed out.

The agent began to loosen his hold as he felt some of the tension leaving Reuben's body. "I know, I know. But, he does know where he is."

"I promised her." Reuben said very quietly and in a voice that was much less emphatic than just moments before.

"We all did." The agent remembered his own promise to the worried family. "We all did."

"I can't go back without him." Reuben let the agent pull him to a stand and let the kidnapper roll away from him. "Oh, God, I've failed."

"No. We've got one of the kidnappers. We've got more than we had just a few minutes ago." The agent assured him as other agents moved in to put the bleeding kidnapper in cuffs. "We'll get him back. We'll find him."

The rain began in earnest as the agents along with Reuben moved quickly toward the cars. The lightening strikes were coming more frequently and none of them wanted to be caught unawares.

The agent who had pulled Reuben off of the kidnapper grabbed the duffle bag of money and followed quickly behind.

xoxo

"Here, put this around your shoulders." At Carol's questioning look, Trey continued. "It'll keep you dry."

It was the first time Carol realized it was raining. "Oh no. It's raining!"

Josh and Trey exchanged concerned looks. It had been raining for a little over five minutes already and she hadn't even noticed that she was already quite wet.

"Yeah, it is." Josh gently agreed, thinking that maybe she was starting to crack. They'd been walking for an hour since she'd stumbled into their camp. She'd rushed them to pack up and then kept them moving at a fast pace toward the ranger station even though she had to be exhausted. They both figured this Keith guy must be pretty lucky to have a girl so crazy about him that she would put his safety above her own.

They knew it was a thunderstorm, but so far the lightening hadn't been very close to them. They'd heard quite a bit of thunder and were happy to realize that they couldn't be more than 10 minutes away from the ranger station they'd left behind several days ago. They'd only been this close to civilization because tonight was to have been their last night camping.

They saw the ranger station looming out of the darkness as they topped a rise. The place was ablaze in light.

"That's strange." Josh commented as he looked at the building.

"Yeah, the ranger should be zonked out just like us. Maybe the storms got 'em nervous about forest fires." Trey said as he saw Carol pause upon spotting the building and then break into a run. She'd heard what Trey had said and was now even more worried about Keith. Not only was he sick, hurt and stuck in the middle of nowhere, but now there was a possibility of a forest fire. It was too much for her to take.

She'd just stepped onto the porch of the cabin when the door flew open and a huge shadow loomed over her. She drew back involuntarily thinking at first that it was the other kidnapper. She froze.

"Carol?" The shadow said in surprise.

"Agent James!" Carol paused for only a second more and then threw herself into his arms weeping uncontrollably and talking so fast that the agent had no idea what was going on. He glanced over her shoulder expecting to see Keith just standing there with his patented grin on his face. Instead Patrick saw two strangers looking at him in surprise.

"Who are you two?" Patrick said as he patted Carol on the back trying to console her.

"I'm Josh and this is Trey. We ran into her…..well actually she stumbled into our camp about an hour ago and insisted we bring her here as quickly as possible. What's going on? She never really did explain." Patrick pulled a still weeping Carol into the cabin and waved the two campers in behind him.

They entered to see several more FBI agents, all in regulation windbreakers and hiking boots. They looked like they were suited up for a long hike. Josh and Trey shuffled their feet nervously. Even though they knew they hadn't done anything wrong, all the official looking agents, wearing scowls and guns could be quite intimidating.

Patrick took Carol to a chair, set her down and handed her a glass of water. "Ok, Carol, calm down. Where's Keith? Can you tell me?"

Carol nodded and then shook her head right after that. She swallowed some water which helped to get her crying under control. "I can't tell you exactly, but I know I could show you."

"Is he alright?" Patrick asked quickly.

"He was in bad shape when I left him. That's why I left him. He couldn't have walked too far in his condition. We thought it would be faster if I went for help." Carol said quickly.

Patrick was picking up hints. Keith was conscious, but either sick or hurt in some way. He figured he better ask more specific questions. "Carol, what's wrong with Keith?"

"He's sick. I mean really sick. He's running a high fever and coughing something fierce. And, then, just before I left him, we were being chased by one of the kidnappers and there was this drop off. I never saw it, but Keith must have because he veered to the side. When he stopped me from falling, he did something to his shoulder. I was too heavy or something. Oh, he was in so much pain." Carol said quickly. "We have to go get him. Right now. He can't get wet."

"Carol, how far away is he?" Patrick exchanged a look with some of the other agents who grabbed some more first aid items and stood at the ready to head out.

"A few hours for sure. I'm not sure how long I was walking before I found these two." Carol waved at Trey and Josh throwing them a grateful smile.

"Ok, where's the kidnapper that was chasing you?" Patrick had to know if they were walking into danger or if there was a possibility that Keith had been recaptured and was now far, far away.

"Dead, I hope." Carol said without pity.

"Oh?" Patrick was a little surprised by her bloodthirsty answer.

"He didn't see the drop off like Keith did." Carol actually smiled at the thought. "I watched him all the way down – well, until just before he hit."

"You're sure he's dead?" Patrick had to know.

"Not positive, but pretty sure. It was a long way down." Carol bit her lip finally remembering once again how close she'd come herself to falling. She would have fallen if not for Keith. That thought had her standing up. "We need to go. Now!"

Patrick watched her sway on her feet. "Now hold on just a second. When's the last time you ate?"

"I don't remember – earlier today, I guess." Carol said finding her balance.

"Got a granola bar?" Patrick addressed the agent behind Carol and then snatched the flying object out of the air as it sailed past Carol's head.

"Here, you eat this while I radio my boss. As soon as you're done we leave, ok?" Patrick smiled comfortingly at her and Carol nodded while ripping open the package.

"I want to thank the two of you for helping her. I don't know if you're aware of it or not, but you've likely saved a life or two." Patrick said as he walked by the two campers. He was loathe to tell them Keith's identity as no one wanted this getting to the press, so he ignored the questioning looks in their eyes. "John here will drive you back to your vehicle. I assume it's in the parking lot at the base of the park."

At their nod, he turned away and headed toward the two way radio. They listened to him radio in and tell them to prep a helicopter for a probable medical evacuation. "I'll let you know where to send it as soon as I have an idea of where you might be able to land." Patrick signed off and turned to see Carol waiting impatiently at the door.

xoxo

The rain woke him from a light and troubled sleep. He shivered and the tremors caused his shoulder to remind him that movement was not recommended. He was absolutely positive that he could not be any more miserable.

He glanced upwards to find that he was actually shielded from the majority of the rain. It was coming down in buckets outside of his little hiding space. He was only being hit by the drops that had worked their way through the canopy of leaves and branches. He was grateful he'd had enough forethought and energy to move to his present location.

He pushed his head back against the tree trunk behind him and shuddered as the urge to cough was building. If he'd thought shivering was painful, he knew the coughing would be torture.

He slowed his breathing as much as possible and awkwardly brought the canteen to his lips hoping the cool water would sooth the urge. He upended the canteen only to find it empty.

"Great. Just great!" Keith mumbled and then regretted it as the coughing fit could no longer be denied.

He coughed…..and coughed……and coughed. When he was done, he was so short of breath that the world around him dimmed around the edges.

When he reopened his eyes, the forest was once again the attic at home. The swaying branches were ghosts and goblins waiting to eat a small boy for lunch. He cowered in fear and closed his eyes tightly. "If you can't see 'em they can't get you." He whispered to his childhood memory.

xoxo

The front door opened just as the sun was coming up. Shirley's eyes flew open from her half reclined position on the chair. She'd fallen down only after wearing a hole in her carpeting pacing in front of the fireplace. Reuben had been gone all night and she was worried sick. Laurie and Danny were leaning against each other on the sofa and had fallen asleep and woken several times. They were just too young to fight sleep.

She had no such hope of finding oblivion in sleep.

Shirley rose quickly to her feet and then froze as she watched Reuben come tentatively into the room.

"Reuben?" The word was barely loud enough for her to hear much less Reuben who had immediately found her across the room and frozen.

He just shook his head and then cast his eyes downward. He'd failed her.

"He isn't….." Shirley let the question fade. This one had been asked in a loud enough voice that Laurie and Danny woke up from their light dozing.

"I don't know Shirl. I don't know." Reuben admitted in defeat.

"What does that mean?" Danny asked as he glanced over his shoulder to see Reuben standing there. The defeat was written clearly in every line of his body.

"Reuben, please. Tell me everything that happened." Shirley demanded as she finally was able to make her feet move.

"I did everything he asked. Everything. To the letter. I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off. And….." Reuben faltered.

"And?" Shirley urged as she put her hand on his arm hoping to draw his eyes to hers. It worked though she wasn't sure she wanted to see the look in his eyes. It was bleak.

"And, I met him to give him the money. He took it never knowing it wasn't all there. He was going to just walk away Shirley. No Keith. Anywhere." Reuben shook his head.

"Please." Shirley needed the rest but didn't know how to ask for it.

"I snapped. I'm so sorry." Reuben paused and looked into her watery eyes once more. He owed her the honest truth. Much as it hurt him, he'd give it to her. "He just took the money and started walking away. He didn't bring Keith. He hadn't told me where he was. I snapped. I'm so sorry. I tackled the guy and punched him. I would have…"

Shirley saw him struggle to continue and quickly intervened. "Reuben you did your best. Did you get him to tell you anything?"

"No, the FBI was there by that time. They pulled me off of him. He eventually told them that he didn't know where Keith was. He'd lost him. Can you believe that? I'm not sure I do." Reuben blurted the last out.

"How can that be?" Shirley asked as Laurie and Danny clutched each other's hands in support.

"He told them that his partner had let them escape. He says they hadn't found him when he came for the ransom but that his partner is still out there looking for them." Reuben answered.

"Out where?" Laurie asked worriedly.

"They were in a cave out by Pinaco Peak. You were close Danny when you said they were at Cronos Caverns. It was caves alright, just the wrong ones." Reuben relayed what he'd heard from the agent who'd brought him back to the Partridge house.

"Oh, so I didn't help Keith at all. In fact I sent them in the wrong direction." Danny said sadly.

"No Danny, it's alright. They didn't just search by Cronos Caverns. They were up in the Picano Peak area too. They'd done their research and knew there were two very good possibilities." Reuben hoped to make Danny feel better by telling him that.

"Oh, that's good." Danny did smile at that hoping that his solving of Keith's riddle may have helped the FBI to be close to his brother when he needed them.

"Now what?" Shirley asked quietly.

"I don't know. They're still out there looking. In fact Patrick James is leading the group up at Pinaco Peak. He feels responsible, you know." Reuben hoped that knowing the man who had been Keith's personal bodyguard for most of the time he'd been under the watchful eye of the FBI was out looking for him in the right area.

"Why would he feel responsible? He wasn't even on duty the night Keith was taken?" Laurie reminded him.

"Guess that's why he feels guilty. I suppose he feels that if he'd been on duty Keith wouldn't have been able to sneak out and….well, he just figures things would have turned out differently." Reuben guessed.

Shirley reached out to take Reuben's hand and lead him to a chair. "Reuben why don't you sit down before you fall down. You look positively beat."

"Ouch." Reuben said instinctively as she irritated the bruises on his hands from punching the kidnapper.

"Oh, Reuben." Shirley said in sympathy as she examined the swelling. "Laurie get Reuben an ice pack."

"No, I don't need one." Reuben didn't feel like he deserved it. The little pain he felt was nothing compared to what he was figuring Keith was going through. His failure to bring him home was causing more pain to this whole family. He deserved to suffer.

Shirley ignored his comments and led him to a chair. She suspected that he felt guilty and was punishing himself by allowing the pain to go on. She almost wished she had some physical pain to take her mind off of the emotional and mental pain she was suffering herself. But, Reuben wasn't to blame and she would not let him suffer because of it.

Once he was settled and the ice pack was gently laid across his bruised knuckles, the door bell rang.

"I'll get it." Shirley said as she patted Reuben comfortingly on the shoulder as she walked away.

She opened the door to find an agent on the other side. He looked hopeful. It was the first thought that came to mind. "Come in." She waved him in.

"I have some news. I hope you think it's good news." The agent paused as he noticed Reuben, Laurie and Danny head toward them. "Carol walked into a ranger station in the very early hours of this morning. She was tired, cold and wet, but otherwise fine."

"And Keith?" Shirley was happy to hear that Carol was alright, but she needed to hear about Keith.

"Carol says he's sick and hurt, but otherwise alright. She's leading them to him now." The agent couldn't hold back the smile and the family around him exploded in screams and cheers of happiness.

Shirley was the first to recover from the happy news. "You say he was sick and hurt? How sick and how hurt?"

"Carol said he had a fever and was coughing. She also said he'd hurt his shoulder somehow. Agent James wasn't overly specific in his radio communication, but he requested a med-evac helicopter to help get him out. We'll know more as soon as they actually get to him." The agent told them.

Hearing that Keith was still out there alone until they actually got to him brought the high spirits down a bit and the smiles started to slide from their lips.

"What about the other kidnapper?" Reuben blurted out before realizing he probably should have pulled the agent aside before asking and worrying the rest of them.

"They suspect that he may be dead." The agent said gravely.

"Good." Danny said plainly. "What, don't tell me you're not happy to hear that too."

They all looked away knowing they couldn't argue with his comment.

xoxo

He could hear her calling his name. He giggled just a little before slapping his hand over his mouth to silence it. Now that he could hear her coming, he wasn't scared any more. He just needed to stay quiet. No sense making this easy for her.

In his delirium, Keith was mistaking Carol's voice for Laurie's.

xoxo

"Keith!" Carol shouted from the spot where she was sure she'd left him. She'd glanced over the side to see what she was quite certain was the body of the other kidnapper.

"Keith!" Patrick yelled next to her. "I thought you said he was hurt and couldn't move."

"He was. If he moved, it was with great pain." Carol bit her lip. She went back to the edge of the cliff and looked down. "Do you think that maybe that blob down there isn't the kidnapper and that he came back for Keith?"

"Some of our guys are headed down as we speak. We'll know shortly." Patrick assured her.

"He has to be close." Carol turned back toward the tree where Keith had been leaning when she left. "Keith! Oh, please Keith answer me!"

xoxo

He was hiding in the back of Reuben's car just trying not to be seen. He was too sick to deal with the paparazzi. He curled into a tighter ball and closed his eyes praying to get through the gauntlet of fans and reporters. 'Just don't let them see me' he whispered 'they can't know I'm here'.

xoxo

He was in the attic. The shapes around him had made him think of all of his worst nightmares. He screwed his eyes tightly shut and muttered, 'if they can't see me, they can't hurt me'.

xoxo

Keith was floating between reality and dreams. He thought he heard Carol calling for him, but he was drifting so close to unconsciousness that his plan to shout in response was quickly swallowed up by the black that was creeping in.


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

"We need to get to the hospital." Shirley said as she spun around in search of her purse.

"No, wait." The agent gently grabbed her arm before she could move away. "We don't have the hospital secured yet. You can't go until that's done."

"What? Why?" Reuben asked in confusion.

"The press will converge on the hospital if they know you've gone there. We've been pretty successful so far in keeping the press out of this, but if you get there too early and without preparation we're afraid it will leak to the press. We need to work out the logistics with the hospital to keep you out of sight." The agent explained.

"Alright, how long will that take?" Shirley asked.

"Give us a couple of hours." The agent tried for a winning smile.

"You've got one and then I'm going." Shirley informed him.

The agent knew he had no choice but to accept her terms and decided to hightail it over to the hospital to get the lockdown started.

"Where are you going?" Laurie asked as her mom headed for the stairs.

"I'm going to take a shower and change my clothes. The last thing I want to do is frighten my son when he sees me." Shirley said without turning around.

xoxo

"Keith!" Carol yelled louder and began to walk in ever widening circles right behind Patrick. "Oh, God, something's happened to him. I just know it."

"No, he's here." Patrick tried to reassure her.

"Then why isn't he answering?" Carol asked.

Patrick was about to tell her that maybe he was unconscious, but decided against it as that would only worry her more. He just shrugged and moved on.

His radio squawked and he quickly pulled it from his belt. "James, go ahead."

"There's definitely a DB down here. As to whether or not it's the other kidnapper, can't say." The garbled words came over the small device. Patrick understood every word as he'd been using the radio system for years. Carol, on the other hand, wasn't quite sure what they'd said. "Have you found the kid yet?"

"No, but we will." Patrick said. If there was a dead body at the bottom of the cliff, then it was likely the kidnapper, which meant that wherever Keith was, he'd gotten there under his own power. According to Carol, that couldn't be far.

Alright, if Patrick was hurt and sick where would he be? The agent decided to put himself in the shoes of the guy he was trying to find. He'd have been looking for warmth and shelter. He also might not have been sure that the kidnapper was dead, so he'd be looking to hide.

Patrick's eyes scanned the immediate area looking for a likely spot that met every one of those requirements.

"There!" Patrick's eyes lit upon a possible spot and he even thought he might have seen a slight movement. The only thing worrying him now was the fact that Keith wasn't answering them. He could certainly hear them.

Patrick took off like a shot toward the spot he was sure he would find Keith. Carol struggled to keep up.

"Keith!" Patrick bellowed as he got closer. Still no answer.

He got down on his hands and knees to look into the small space made between the exposed roots of several trees. He was there!

"Keith." Patrick said more gently as he began to work his way closer. "Just wait out there. I'll bring him out." Patrick said over his shoulder as he felt rather than saw Carol begin to follow him in.

Patrick could have sworn he heard Keith whisper 'if you can't see them, they can't hurt you'. What in the hell did he mean by that?

"Keith." He said quietly so as not to startle him as he was right in front of him now. He looked at him closely to see his eyes closed tightly and his lips moving slightly. "Come on, Keith, open your eyes."

The command was followed immediately as if by a small child. Patrick realized almost immediately that the description wasn't far from the truth. Keith's eyes were open, but they didn't focus. The kid must be close to losing consciousness.

Maybe touch would help. Patrick reached out and put his hand on Keith's shoulder forgetting that Carol had told him he'd injured his shoulder. The pain of the contact caused Keith to hiss in a breath over clenched teeth. The pain did cause his eyes to cloud over but eventually they focused on Patrick's face.

Keith felt like he was coming up from a deep sleep. He'd been wakened by the pain that had been a constant ache but was now a fierce jab of pain. When his eyes finally focused, he had a moment of panic as the man in front of him took on the visage of his kidnapper. He involuntarily pulled back causing himself even more pain.

"Calm down. It's me Patrick. Agent James. Remember me?" Patrick said gently while pulling his hand back quickly realizing that he'd chosen the wrong area to touch.

"Patrick?" Keith said in confusion; trying vainly to follow Patrick's words.

"Yeah, you know, the thorn in your side for the last several weeks." Patrick tried humor.

Keith finally caught on to who was kneeling in front of him. "More like pain in the ass."

"That's better. I can see your back to reality, hmmm?" Patrick grinned at Keith's return of humor.

"I'm not so sure I like reality all that well." Keith winced.

"Yeah, I can see why you'd say that. How's about we get you out of here and to a doctor?" Patrick suggested. "A doctor with heavy duty pain medication."

"You've said the magic words. I'm right behind you." Keith tried pushing off with his good hand but found he'd wedged himself in so tightly that he couldn't move. "On second thought, go on without me."

"What? Having a little trouble getting yourself out of that tiny spot you've squashed yourself into?" Patrick decided to keep joking so that Keith's mind would stay off the worst of his pain.

"Hey, who you calling little?" Keith joked back.

"Not you, the space you're in. I'd almost have liked to have been here to see how you got in there. You some kind of contortionist?" Patrick moved around on both sides of Keith trying to figure out the best way to get him out without hurting him any more than he had to.

"No contortionist, just desperate." Keith admitted while weakly struggling to get himself out.

"Hey, stop moving for a minute. You'll just end up hurting yourself. I'll get you out, ok?" Patrick hoped Keith trusted him enough to agree.

"Mind if I take a little nap while you figure that out?" Keith slurred as his slight movements seemed to have worn him out completely and the darkness was once again settling around his peripheral vision.

"No!" Patrick said sharply startling Keith's eyes back open. "Stay awake for me, Keith. Come on you can do that right?"

Patrick was concerned that Keith might not wake up if he were to pass out right now. Though honestly it might be easier to get him out if he were unconscious. He really wished he was more of a medical professional.

"Alright, fine, I'll stay awake." Keith sighed his agreement. "Though you better hurry."

"Gotcha." Patrick smiled his agreement then looked over his shoulder. "Carol, go and get another agent. I need help getting him out of here."

"I'll help." Carol said as she tried to come into the small space.

"No, I need someone who's stronger. Please. I know you want to help him. But I'm trying to hurt him as little as possible." Patrick explained.

"Oh, sure." Carol tried to ignore her hurt feelings and ran back to the small clearing to find one of the other agents who were heading back from where they'd gone off to search.

xoxo

Shirley came down the stairs feeling as refreshed as a person could feel who hadn't slept for more than two days.

"Where are Laurie and Danny?" She asked Reuben who had helped himself to the biggest mug of coffee he could find. He hadn't slept for several days either.

"They decided that you had a good idea about cleaning themselves up to see Keith. I'm sure they'll be down shortly." Reuben smiled encouragingly at her. At least he hoped it was encouragingly. He wasn't so sure he pulled it off.

"Why don't you go up and take a quick shower yourself. You can use my bathroom. There are towels in the closet behind the door." Shirley offered. "We can't leave for another 15 minutes for sure."

"That sounds heavenly. I'll be down before you're ready to leave." Reuben thought a shower was about the best thing he'd heard in a long time – well aside from the fact that they knew where Keith was.

"I'm ready to leave now." Shirley reminded him.

"You know what I mean." Reuben laughed at her comment. Wow, when was the last time he'd laughed. It had been a while.

xoxo

"Ok, Keith, brace yourself." Patrick warned from right beside him.

After finding out from Keith where his injuries were and what hurt, another agent had crawled into the space and now had Keith's ankles in his hands. While the agent pulled Keith's ankles, Patrick planned to brace Keith's back and head so that he wouldn't have to do anything to assist them. At Keith's nod, Patrick glanced at the other agent. "Ok, Ron, go slow."

At the first gentle tug, Keith tensed and drew in a sharp breath. The agent stopped pulling as soon as Patrick shook his head. No matter how slowly or gently they moved him, it was going to hurt.

"You ok, bud?" Patrick asked quietly, close to Keith's ear.

"Yeah, go ahead." Keith gritted his teeth and tried to stay as still as possible.

Patrick nodded at Ron to start up his gentle pulling again.

They moved in inches. Each inch was excruciating for Keith, both because of his shoulder and because his muscles that had been cramped, tensed and sedentary for so long were being stretched and moved.

"Almost there. You're doing great." Patrick felt like a cheerleader, but he figured if he kept up a steady chatter it might help Keith keep his mind off of at least a little of the pain.

xoxo

"They've found him." Were the happy words spoken by yet another agent as soon as Shirley opened the front door.

"Oh, thank God." Shirley turned to find Reuben, Laurie and Danny right behind her. Reuben reached out as she swayed slightly on her feet. "How is he?"

"We don't know the particulars yet, all we've been told is that they've found him and are looking for a spot for the helicopter to land." The agent wished he had more to tell them, but he knew this would be better than nothing.

"Can we leave for the hospital?" Shirley asked wanting nothing more than to be waiting for her son when he got there.

"In just a few minutes. I'll be back to get you when we can go." The agent nodded and then turned to walk away.

Shirley closed the door and then rested her forehead against it. She could feel the tears sliding down her face. She'd held them in for so long. She guessed it was the happy news that allowed them to escape.

"Mom?" Laurie asked as she walked up beside her. The sight of her mother's tears surprised her. "Why are you crying now?"

"I don't know." Shirley bit her lip as the tears came faster.

"Maybe she's happy that they've found Keith." Reuben suggested. "It's probably tears of relief."

"Why would you cry? I feel like shouting for joy!" Danny pointed out.

"It's a female thing, Danny. No need to understand it. It just is." Reuben said in a long suffering voice. He'd never admitted to understanding women and knew there was little hope of it ever happening in his lifetime much less Danny's.

"Just because you don't get it doesn't mean there's no need." Danny's grin was evil as he delivered that line.

The agent had to resist the urge to pound the short redhead into the ground. He decided he was too happy about the news of finding Keith to expend his energy on paying Danny back.

xoxo

Keith had blacked out after having another coughing fit that caused Patrick and Ron to stop trying to move him. Patrick had held his own breath as he'd listened to the congested sound. He knew Keith had to be in some serious pain while he was coughing. Keith's coughing, though is lasted several minutes, got weaker and expelled less congestion as it went on.

"Maybe it's for the best." Ron said moving more quickly now that he couldn't cause more pain but still being careful with his actions.

"Maybe. But I'd have preferred he'd stayed awake." Patrick said as he sped up his support to match Ron. "His breathing is way too slow for my liking. I wish we weren't so far away from a hospital."

"Hey, we've found him. That's half the battle, right?" Ron said hopefully.

"Hardly." Patrick pointed out. "I'd hate to find him only to lose him to whatever physical problems he has because we didn't find him sooner. Not to mention the fact that he never should have been taken in the first place."

"James you have got to stop beating yourself up about not being on duty the night he was taken. Besides, you've got the 'rook' Henson shaking in his boots. He's afraid you're going to beat the snot out of him once you get a chance. I'll bet he's booking plane tickets out of town as we speak. Knowing we've found the kid means you're soon going to have time to 'get your point across' shall we say." Ron laughed as he saw the look on Patrick's face. Agent Henson was lucky he didn't see that look or he would definitely be booking that flight. Patrick looked ready to kill.

"Don't remind me Ron. I'm trying to be gentle here and you're trying to make me mad." Patrick really did want to teach the rookie agent a few things about being a bodyguard. He didn't necessarily intend to 'beat' it into him, but if he didn't learn and learn quick, it just might be an option – though he'd likely be thrown out of the FBI for that one.

As soon as they were out from under the trees, Patrick gently picked Keith up and began to walk to the clearing they'd chosen for the helicopter landing. It wasn't easy carrying him. Though he didn't weigh all that much, because of his injuries, Patrick had to carry him in his arms instead of flung over his shoulder in a fireman's carry.

"When'll the copter get here?" Patrick said as he started to breathe heavily.

"Should be here in fifteen minutes or so." Ron said as he pulled the radio away from his ear.

"How is he?" Carol asked as she trotted beside the long strides of Patrick. She realized that when they'd hiked out here, he'd obviously let her set the pace because now he was walking so fast that she was out of breath herself and she wasn't carrying an unconscious person.

"Still breathing, though I don't like the sound of it." Patrick admitted. He'd lost the ability to watch his words with her. She'd asked, so he'd answered. If she couldn't handle the answer, well, she shouldn't have asked.

He watched her face closely and instead of the shock he'd expected, she just looked worried. She was a strong one, wasn't she?

"Then let's hurry up." Carol suggested.

"I'm tryin'. I'm tryin'." Patrick almost grinned at her gumption.

xoxo

Keith woke up as Patrick laid him down on the pallet that would be loaded into the helicopter. He'd tried to be gentle, but the motion jostled his injured shoulder enough for the pain to bring Keith out of the pleasant fog he'd settled into. His groan of pain brought all eyes to him.

"Keith? I'm Jeff. I'll be taking care of you on the helicopter." At Keith's vague glance in his direction, Jeff continued. "You'll be in the hospital in about a half an hour, alright?"

Keith didn't bother answering just closed his eyes as they glazed over once again.

"Hurry." Patrick echoed Carol's words from earlier. "We'll meet you there as fast as we can, kid." He said as he patted Keith's good shoulder. He wasn't sure if Keith even heard him.

xoxo

They'd been taken to the hospital in an FBI car. No one wanted to risk the Partridge family station wagon being noticed sitting in the parking lot. Surprisingly, they'd been able to keep this whole kidnapping a secret from the media. Just how, they weren't sure.

The kids who'd called the ambulance hadn't ever questioned who was in the car they'd seen go off the side of the road. That had helped. And, Carol's parents had been only too happy to keep things quiet too. They wanted their daughter back safely and any publicity would have made that much more difficult. So, up to now, everyone was still under the impression that Keith and the family weren't seen around town because they were still being watched and guarded by the FBI due to the THREAT of a kidnapping.

It was blessedly quiet as Shirley, Reuben, Laurie and Danny were escorted into the hospital. They'd beat the helicopter according to the agent walking with them.

"They're still about 10 minutes out." The agent said as he ushered them through the front doors and then quickly past the regular waiting room. As he pushed through the next set of doors, they were met by an efficient looking nurse who waved them into a small but private waiting room.

"We'll let you know as soon as he gets here." She smiled calmly at them and then left.

"I'll leave you here, but be just outside if you need me." The agent said and also left.

"Hurry up and wait. I'm pretty sick of this." Reuben said as he began to pace not knowing what else to do.

"Yes, we've been doing a lot of that lately haven't we?" Shirley agreed but stayed rooted to her spot. She felt like pacing too, but watching Reuben do it somehow seemed to calm her a little.

"Why didn't they tell us how he was doing?" Laurie asked. "I mean, they should be in touch with the helicopter right? They must know."

"You know I hadn't thought of that. I'll go and find out." Shirley said and quickly went to put her words into actions. How could she have forgotten to ask? She guessed it had more to do with lack of sleep. It sure wasn't lack of worry.

"Nurse." Shirley saw the woman who had shown them to the room. "Can you tell me how my son is doing?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know." The nurse answered truthfully. She'd just been sent to take them to the room. "I can try and find out if someone does know though. However, I can't have you wandering around in this area, so could you go back to the waiting room and I'll come back as soon as I know something."

"Alright, thank you." Shirley agreed though she was disappointed.

The agent had heard the conversation and said, "If it makes you feel any better, they said that he was talking to Patrick when he found him. I'd say that says a lot, don't you?"

"Yes, thank you." Shirley forced a small smile of appreciation at the small tidbit of information.

xoxo

Keith had faded in and out of consciousness throughout the helicopter ride. He was losing track of reality. The helicopter was the sound of a rowdy crowd that had trapped he, Laurie and Danny after they'd been asked to participate in a parade. The crowd had been huge and had quickly gotten out of hand. They'd had to hide in some back room of a building they'd been taken to quickly until they could figure out a safe way to get them out. It had been loud and scary. The rotor blades brought that event back clearly in his mind.

Other times he was once again back in the attic hiding from Laurie. The blades cutting through the sunlight were once again the wavering monsters that were closing in on him.

He was mumbling words that Jeff, the onboard nurse, couldn't hope to make out over the noise of the helicopter and the earphones he wore to be in touch with the doctors at the hospital.

"He's delirious, Dr. Lewis. He's drifting in and out of consciousness." Those were Jeff's last comments after relaying his vitals. He's already hooked up an IV and begun to push fluids into the kid, but they'd wait until they got to the hospital to administer pain medication or antibiotics though Jeff suspected he needed both. Badly.

"Roger that." Jeff said as he and the hospital signed off.

Minutes later, the hospital roof with the big white X came into view. The pilot settled the bird down gently and Jeff prepared to help get his patient onto a hospital gurney. The transfer was made seamlessly and the hospital crew of nurses and doctors ran toward the elevator that would take them to the emergency room.

xoxo

The nurse hadn't found out anything before the helicopter arrived, but she was able to let them know that he was currently coming down the elevator.

The four of them stood anxiously watching the numbers descend from eight, seven, six….and they all tensed when the number 1 lit up and the ding of the bell was heard.

Then they finally saw him. He was still on the gurney and very pale, yet sweating.

"Keith." Shirley said and rushed forward. "Honey, I'm here. You're going to be alright now."

Keith opened his eyes and found his mother's smiling face, tears once again falling gently. He whispered, "I'm sorry. My fault."

Shirley pushed his hair off his forehead and leaned over to kiss his forehead. "It's alright baby. I'm just so happy that you're safe."

Laurie had followed her mom over and now leaned over to add her own well wishes. "Keith, I'm here too. We're all pulling for you. We love you."

Keith's eyes opened once again and he blinked several times to bring Laurie into focus. He surprised everyone by saying, "It's about time you found me. I win."

They were further surprised when he gifted her with one of his patented grins.


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

"How is he?" Carol said as she barged into the waiting room with Patrick close on her heels.

"Carol, my goodness, when did you get here?" Laurie asked as she looked at the dirty and tired looking young woman.

"We just got here. It took us two hours to drive here." Carol explained and then re-asked her question. "How is he?"

"They haven't told us yet." Laurie told her. "We did get to see him before they took him into the emergency room, though."

Shirley stood behind her daughter as she talked to a girl who Shirley knew was Keith's girlfriend, though she'd never met her. "Hi, I'm Keith's mom. I'm so glad that you're ok."

"Oh, mom, I'm sorry I forgot you two have never met. Mom this is Keith's girlfriend, Carol Connor." Laurie quickly made the introductions.

"I want to thank you for taking care of my son." Shirley said quickly letting the young woman know she knew what she'd done.

"He's the one who saved my life. I owe him so much." Carol was quick to push the attention away from herself. What had she done? She'd only hiked out for help. Keith had saved her life by not letting her plunge to the bottom of that ravine.

"You took help back to him. Thank you – so much." Shirley said and quickly engulfed the girl in a hug.

"Carol!" The words were practically shrieked by a woman who had just entered the room. It was quickly apparent that she was Carol's mother and beyond ecstatic to see her. Carol went from Shirley's warm hug to her parents almost desperate hugs.

Carol began to weep softly as their hugs reminded her of what she'd almost lost. She also began to remember that she'd wrecked her mother's car. For some reason, that fact was in the forefront of her mind. "Mom, I'm so sorry about your car."

"Honey, I don't care about the car. I only care about you. The fact that you're alright, well that's all that matters." Her mother assured her quickly.

"Mom, Dad, I'd like you to meet Keith's mom, Shirley Partridge." Carol pulled away from her parents and made the introductions. "And this is his sister Laurie, his brother Danny and I think this is their manager."

"Mr. Kincaid, it's nice to meet you." Reuben quickly identified himself and then realized how trite his comment had been. The circumstances of their meeting were anything but a pleasantry.

As the nervous laughter at Reuben's words began to fade, Shirley said what they were all thinking. "Though I'd have preferred to meet under different circumstances, I am in total agreement with Reuben. We owe your daughter a huge debt of gratitude."

"Mrs. Partridge, I told you before. It was Keith who saved my life." Carol said again.

"Yes, honey, but if you hadn't been dating Keith, your life wouldn't have needed saving." Mr. Connor could have kicked himself for saying something so insensitive in front of Keith's family, but it was the truth.

As they stood their awkwardly, the door opened once again.

"Mrs. Partridge?" The man in the white coat glanced around the room until he found the face of the person who to this point he'd only seen on album covers.

"Are you Keith's doctor?" Shirley moved forward quickly to shake the doctor's hand.

"Yes, I am. I'm Dr. Hayes. Your son is being moved up to ICU as we speak." The doctor waved her toward some chairs. The rest of the family followed.

"ICU! How is he?" Shirley asked as she mostly fell down into a chair at that news.

"He's pretty sick, actually. He has pneumonia." The doctor said gravely. "We're treating him with a strong course of antibiotics, but the next 48 hours are crucial to his recovery. His temperature is higher than we'd have liked, but the antibiotics should take care of that as well."

"What about his shoulder?" Carol asked as she tentatively moved closer to hear everything that was said.

"You must be Carol." The doctor looked at the dirty young woman who could only have been involved in the same situation as his equally filthy patient. "He asked about you. I'll have to let him know that you're fine."

"Thank you." Carol smiled to hear that Keith had been thinking of her.

"His shoulder was out of joint which was causing him all the pain. We're not certain at this point if he has any other muscle or tissue damage from the accident that caused it to pop out of joint, but time will tell. He's also quite bruised from what he tells us was a car accident." The doctor relayed. "He told us he wasn't wearing his seatbelt."

Carol blushed as they all looked at her and she remembered just exactly why he hadn't been wearing one. "I had mine on, but Keith had taken his off just before." Carol told them but decided not to tell them why. That was personal.

The doctor decided to let the reasons slide and to continue with his prognosis. "Keith's bruising from the car accident includes much of his right side. He also has a wound in his scalp that has become infected. We'll be shaving part of his hair to get at the area."

The doctor smiled in memory as he relayed this last bit of information. "Keith has made me promise to shave as little as possible. Apparently he's pretty attached to his current look. His words, not mine."

"That's my brother." Laurie couldn't help but grin herself.

"Do you have any questions for me?" The doctor asked.

"Keith wasn't making a whole lot of sense when we first saw him. Does he have a concussion?" Shirley asked remembering the words he'd said to Laurie.

"No, he doesn't appear to have a concussion. It was probably due to his high fever. He seems to be floating in and out of delirium. He's reliving things from his past. That will become less and less frequent as the antibiotics begin to kick in and take care of his numerous infections." The doctor assured them.

"Can we see him?" Shirley asked the question she'd been holding back since the doctor had walked in the door.

"Let us get him settled in ICU, then you can each see him for a few minutes only." The doctor told them.

"Why only for a few minutes?" Shirley had every intention of not leaving his bedside once she got in there.

"ICU has very restricted visiting rules. It's for the benefit of the patients. They need extra care and, most importantly, rest." Dr. Hayes smiled knowingly at the mother who he knew would stay with him constantly if allowed.

"Dr. Hayes, I will not leave my son alone. He was kidnapped." Shirley figured she'd use the shock value of that statement for all it was worth.

"Yes, Mrs. Partridge I know that. Your son was able to relay that information to us. And though I will bend the rules for you, I can't break the rules for anyone. They're there for a reason." Dr. Hayes frowned. He hated to deny the woman access to her son, but his treatment for the pneumonia would not be pretty. They needed him to purge his lungs of the congestion and it was often too difficult for family members to witness. "Look, Keith really needs to rest and heal. You look like you could use some rest yourself. Would you agree to a short visit today, immediate family only, and then loosened visitations starting tomorrow?"

Shirley didn't particularly like the doctor's negotiation tactics, but she didn't think she should argue too hard. After all, he was doing what was bet for her son. That being said, she had reason to worry. "I won't leave him alone."

"Mrs. Partridge, if you would like, I'll stay outside his room." Patrick offered. He'd quickly melted into the background after he'd brought Carol up to the waiting room but now he felt like he might be able to offer some comfort to the family.

"Would that be alright?" Shirley glanced at Dr. Hayes. If she couldn't be there, she knew that Patrick was the next best thing. He'd taken great pains to keep her son safe and Shirley was quite certain that if he had been on duty the night Keith snuck out, it would never have happened.

"Who are you?" Dr. Hayes looked at the imposing figure who he hadn't noticed until he'd asked the question. How could such a large man have gone so unnoticed?

"I'm Agent James with the FBI. Keith was my assignment. I feel responsible for his being here." Patrick tried to relay his guilt and the reasons why he wouldn't let anything happen to Keith again.

"Agent James you weren't on duty. It's not your fault Keith was taken." Shirley quickly reminded him and then turned back to Dr. Hayes. "But, I will admit that I would feel much better if Agent James was here for my son."

"I'm sure that can be arranged." Dr. Hayes agreed. They'd never had someone with a bodyguard in the hospital, but how difficult could it be?

xoxo

Shirley lay in her bed hoping for sleep to take her away yet holding it at bay so that she wouldn't wake up realizing Keith's rescue had been a dream, she felt the tears begin to fall in earnest. They were tears of fear, anger, relief and just plain old exhaustion. Tears of fear that her son may still not be completely out of the woods – he needed to recover from his multiple injuries and illnesses. Tears of anger at the men who had thought to use her son as a pawn in their game to acquire 'easy' money. Tears of relief that he was once again close enough for her to touch, hug and talk to. Tears of exhaustion because his disappearance two days before hadn't allowed her to catch more than 15 minutes of troubled sleep since.

After being allowed in to see Keith who had looked so broken in the midst of all the machinery around him, Shirley had held it together not wanting to scare her son. She'd walked over to him and gently pushed his hair off his forehead only to discover another bruise that she hadn't seen until then. Her eyes had been drawn from the ugly bruise to his eyes as she'd watched them blink open groggily.

"Hi mom." Keith said weakly. He was so doped up, she was surprised he'd recognized her. The doctor had warned her that he might not make sense, but here he was looking at her with tired eyes and even trying to give her one of his beautiful smiles.

"Hi honey. Don't try to talk. I know you're really tired. I just wanted you to know I'm here and I love you." Shirley leaned over and kissed his forehead. She was surprised at how hot he felt.

"Love you too." He mumbled before appearing to drift off again.

She'd smiled that he hadn't listened to her when she'd told him not to talk.

"Just like him not to listen to you." Laurie said from the other side of his bed and shared a smile with her mom. "Hey, Keith, I'm here too."

"Laurie?" Keith struggled to open his eyes again. When he did, he saw the tears in her eyes and he was once again locked in the attic with his sister. "Don't cry, Danny will wake up soon and mom will let us out. I'll protect you."

"Keith, what are you talking about?" Laurie asked as she watched his eyes drift closed and realized she wasn't going to get an answer.

Danny had peppered them with questions about how he was doing as he hadn't been allowed in because of his age. Until Keith was moved to a regular room, Danny wouldn't be able to see his brother. He'd argued vehemently, but had lost.

Shirley had only left his side after Dr. Hayes had come in to check on Keith's progress and to give him his first treatment to relieve his congested lungs. He'd sent the family home before he'd started the arduous process.

Shirley had paused outside the room to check that Patrick had everything he needed before going home. She'd also gotten his promise that he would call if there was any change in his condition. Any change at all.

As she lay their torn between needing sleep and fearing it, she finally drifted into a deep sleep that was blessedly free of nightmares.

xoxo

"Laurie, how is he?" Carol had called several times while Keith was still in ICU. While he was in critical condition, the only two people allowed in were Shirley and Laurie.

"He's getting better. In fact, he should be moved to a regular room tomorrow. Then you can see for yourself." Laurie smiled in spite of the fact they were on the phone. She couldn't hold back her happiness that Keith was getting better every day.

"If I can talk my parents into it." Carol followed the comment with a heavy sigh.

"What do you mean?" Laurie felt Carol's worry across the phone line.

"My dad is still so freaked out about this whole thing that he's telling me I can't see Keith anymore." Carol said forlornly.

"Why not? The danger is over now." Laurie pointed out.

"I know that and you know that, but my father still insists that this is all Keith's fault." Carol's frustration could be heard in her voice.

"You're kidding. How can he blame Keith for getting kidnapped?" Laurie was shocked.

"I know! It's completely ridiculous. Maybe if he knew for sure that this wouldn't happen again…" Carol trailed off not knowing for sure how that could be.

"Well, we're still waiting to get the all clear from the FBI. Agent James is still camped outside of Keith's room. I'm not sure he even leaves to use the bathroom." Laurie joked.

"He sure is a great bodyguard, isn't he?" Carol remembered how gentle Patrick had been in handling Keith when he was injured and how he'd beaten himself up over the fact that Keith had been taken in the first place. She'd heard his conversation with the other agent while they were getting Keith out of his hiding place.

"Hey, I have to go. Mom and I are heading over to the hospital again. I'll call you tonight and give you an update." Laurie said as she watched her mom come down the stairs.

"Say hi to Keith for me." Carol reminded Laurie.

"I will. Bye." Laurie easily agreed.

xoxo

It had been a week since Keith had been brought into the hospital and he'd been in a private room for the past couple of days. His recovery had been nothing short of spectacular. Dr. Hayes had chalked it up to youth but Shirley had chalked it up to Keith's unwillingness to let down their fans. Since moving from ICU, Keith had been asking how long it would be before they could start performing again.

Shirley, Laurie and Danny were all sitting around the room filling Keith in on what was happening outside the four walls of the hospital when Dr. Hayes made an appearance.

"How's my favorite patient?" Dr. Hayes used that line on all his patients.

"You've got the wrong room." Danny joked.

"Danny, when I lose this sling, consider yourself pounded into the ground." Keith said without heat.

"Well, if you promise not to overdo it when you beat up your brother, how would you feel about going home tomorrow?" Dr. Hayes had listened to this family trade barbs since Danny had been allowed to see his brother and didn't bother to hide his smile.

"What time?" Keith's face had lit up. The earlier the better was all he could think.

"Right after my morning rounds. How does 10:00 sound?" Dr. Hayes smiled at his patient's eagerness to leave them.

"Too late, but I'll take it." Keith grinned. He was sick of being poked and prodded, sick of lung exercises, physical therapy on his shoulder, being woken up in the middle of the night for vitals and more than anything, he was sick of hospital food.

"Eager to leave us, hmmm?" Dr. Hayes teased.

"Just eager to be home." Keith admitted.

"Well, you'll still need lots of rest and to continue your lung and shoulder exercises." Dr. Hayes reminded him. "I'll send home instructions for your mother but we'll go over everything tomorrow morning before you leave."

"When can I get rid of this sling?" Keith asked throwing a meaningful look at Danny. His mom had brought his guitar a couple of days before, but he'd been limited in how much he could play. His therapist had actually incorporated it into his physical therapy, but he wasn't allowed to play too long for fear of over doing it. At home, Keith hoped to begin pushing himself harder. He'd have to be able to play a lot longer than they'd allowed up to now if they were going to start performing soon. And he hoped they'd perform very soon. He was more than ready.

"I'd say you can graduate to wearing it only when your shoulder gets too tired. How does that sound?" Dr. Hayes easily agreed not knowing Keith's inclination to push himself.

"Perfect." Keith grinned and began to slip the contraption over his head.

"Hey, you're losing the sling." Reuben announced his arrival with those words.

"Yep, when's our next booking?" Keith's grin was growing as more and more of his restrictions were being lifted.

"As soon as your doctors tell me I can start booking them." Reuben looked hopefully at Dr. Hayes.

"Alright, we're getting the cart before the horse here. It'll still be a few weeks before you should be performing." Dr. Hayes tried slowing down the runaway train that was Keith Partridge and his singing career.

"Why? I feel fine. If I can play guitar for 45 minutes to an hour at a time, I can perform." Keith informed him.

"We'll see." Dr. Hayes gave the vague answer as he really didn't want to disappoint his patient. He glanced over at Shirley to see that he would have an ally in her should he need to put additional restrictions on Keith's impatience to get back to normal.

Keith bit his tongue at the shared look between his mom and doctor. He knew exactly what that shared look meant – if need be, they'd gang up on him. Well, that was just fine. He'd build up his endurance without their permission if he had to.

"Hey, I also have some more good news." Reuben had almost forgotten to share this last piece of information.

"What?" Danny prodded as Reuben was also wont to wait for the prompt.

"You'll be losing your bodyguard." Reuben shared a grin with Keith but was surprised by the frowns he saw on several faces. "What, why aren't you all happy about this?"

"Is it safe?" Shirley asked immediately. She'd drawn comfort from Patrick's constant presence outside of Keith's door. In this instance, it had served two purposes. One to keep him safe from kidnappers, but also to keep him safe from anyone else finding out he was here.

"Perfectly. They finally figured out who was the real mastermind behind this whole thing." Reuben paused for effect.

"Who?" Danny didn't waste time in asking the right question.

"Keith, do you remember those two morning DJ's from L.A.?" Reuben stuck his hands in his front pockets as he rocked back on his heels. He knew his reveal would be a stunner.

"You mean the jerk who made a pass at Laurie?" Keith frowned in memory.

"He didn't make a pass at me." Laurie tried to put in, but Reuben and Keith ignored her.

"That's the one. Well, in all the excitement, I forgot to tell you that my friend Stan fired their asses." Reuben realized what he said and that he was in mixed company quickly retracted it. "Oh, um, sorry, Stan fired Pete and Joey after finding out what they'd done to both you and Laurie. Apparently Pete was the one who gave the idea to the two lugs who ran you and Carol off the road. He was to be given a sort of finder's fee according to the kidnapper that the FBI has in custody. They picked Pete up today. This is all officially over."

"Oh, thank God!" Shirley leaned over and kissed Keith on the side of the head in relief.

"No more bodyguards?" Keith couldn't hold back the huge grin that took over his face. He was going to get his life back. The life that allowed him to take girls on dates – Carol on a date - by themselves. He'd have to call Carol as soon as he was alone.

She'd been to visit him only once since he'd been moved to his private room but he knew she was just as eager to start seeing him again. He had no idea that her father had a whole other idea.

"Patrick has officially been relieved of his duties." Reuben grinned happily.

"I think I'm actually going to miss him." Laurie said kind of sadly.

"Only cause you have a crush on him." Danny teased.

"Keith, you have my permission to pound Danny into the ground for me too." Laurie glared at Danny but refused to rise to the bait.

"My pleasure." Keith said as he made to get out of his hospital bed. Danny didn't wait around to see if he was kidding. He ran out the door and no one saw him again until they left when visiting hours were over.

xoxo

Keith still wasn't back in school, but he would be soon. He'd spend big chunks of his day catching up on homework. The rest of the time he spent in the garage playing his guitar, composing music and sometimes even playing the drums. He'd save the drums for when he knew his mom had gone to the store. She'd have had a heart attack if she'd known he was pushing his shoulder as hard as he was.

He'd already called Reuben to let him know that he was playing guitar for two hours at a crack, so shows were back on. Reuben had pushed him off until his doctor's appointment the next day, but Keith assured him he was going to get a clean bill of health.

Reuben sure hoped so, but the last thing he planned on doing right now was ticking off Shirley. Reuben would be waiting to hear from Shirley as to when he would even think about booking them for another show, though he was chomping at the bit almost as hard as Keith was. It was torture for Reuben not to take advantage of all the offers that had been pouring in.

He was back in the garage when Laurie found him after getting home from school.

"Hey, is that something new?" She asked as she walked in.

"Yeah, for now it's just an idea." Keith stopped and looked at her. "How was school?"

"Same old, same old." She admitted. "Hey, I've been meaning to ask you, you kept thanking me for finding you after the helicopter brought you to the hospital. What was that all about?"

"Promise you won't laugh?" Keith remembered very clearly the memories that had kept him going when he was 'out of it' in the woods.

"I promise." Laurie said automatically.

"Well, you know I was pretty 'out of it' from the fever." At Laurie's nod he continued. "I'd been floating between reality and some old memories. The main one was that time that we were playing hide and seek. Remember the time I hid in the attic? The day that it was raining so hard we couldn't play outside when Danny was like 1 year old?"

"Sure, I remember. We got locked in the attic. I was scared spitless until you made me laugh." Laurie smiled as she sat down next to Keith on the piano bench.

"Well, before you found me, I was pretty scared myself. The day was really dark what with the rain clouds and the attic was really spooky that day. But, I couldn't come out or I'd lose, so I stuck it out basically hoping that all the ghosts and goblins wouldn't eat me before you found me." Keith laughed at his old childish fears. "I guess I was remembering that because once you found me, I wasn't scared any more. While I was hiding in the woods, I needed something to make me feel safe. You were it, I guess."

"Oh, Keith, that's really sweet." Keith could just hear the long drawn out 'awww', in her voice and he winced.

"You aren't going to tell Danny what I just said, are you?" Keith glanced sideways at Laurie.

"Not Danny, but Aimee's been asking to interview us now that you're home and better. Maybe she'd like that story for one of her articles. You know, big strong singing star is really a pile of mush deep down inside." Laurie teased.

"Look, you can't tell anyone that story. I have a reputation to keep, you know." Keith was quickly regretting telling her.

Laurie realized that Keith wasn't exactly taking her teasing for just that. He really thought she was going to use it against him. "Keith, don't worry. I'm not going to tell anyone. I'm just glad that particular memory helped get you through."

"Thanks, I guess I was feeling so guilty about talking you into helping me that you were on my mind." Keith suggested a possible reason for why Laurie had taken a prominent role in his fever induced memories.

"By the way, you owe me big time for that. Not only did I get into huge trouble, but I figure that favor earns me at least 3 return favors." Laurie gently teased him out of his melancholy mood.

"No way – favor for a favor – there's no multiplication involved." Keith shook his head.

"We'll see…" Laurie left that one hang. "Oh, hey, look what I picked up for you on the way home."

Keith looked at the bag she pulled up from beside her. It was the exact size of a record album. He watched her pull it out of the bag and glanced at the cover that gave nothing away. "It's Paul McCartney's new album. I knew with everything going on you hadn't had a chance to pick it up yet."

"Oh, man, I've been meaning to get this since we saw him at the Whiskey-a-Go-Go." Keith said as he grabbed the album and flipped it over to see the other side.

"I figured that." Laurie laughed at her brother's almost reverent handling of the disc. "I still can't believe we got away with going there."

Keith looked up at her and grinned. "Yeah, it's not like me to not get caught doing something that much fun yet that much against 'the rules'."

"Hey, it's not like we drank anything, so we only broke the law a little bit." Laurie couldn't stifle the nervous giggle even though their adventure had been weeks ago.

"You know, you probably owe me for that one too. Must have been the fact that I was along that we never got caught. I'm the lucky one, remember."

"That's just speculation on your part. I refuse to 'pay up' for that one." Keith winced at the truth in Laurie's statement.

"I suppose I could let that one go seeing you already owe me, big time." Laurie grinned wickedly at him. "Oh hey, before I forget, Gordy and Skizzy are going to be at the taco stand for a while. They said it would be great if you could meet them. Any chance mom would let you go?"

Neither knew that Shirley had been walking back to the house from her trip to the grocery store when she'd heard voices in the garage. She'd only meant to find out who was in there when she'd heard their conversation about their trip to the club. The club that was not supposed to admit minors. The club that had definitely broken the law by letting her two teenagers enter the establishment.

She'd walked away without making her presence known, while she decided how to handle this latest development.


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

"Mom, I'm heading to the taco stand for a while." Keith said as he came in the back door.

"You'll do no such thing." Shirley said without really thinking. She was still angry about what she'd overhead and it had also become automatic to refuse to let Keith do much of anything.

"Why not?" Keith asked in shock. He'd been good about everything, at least to her knowledge. He knew school had let out a short time ago and he had plans to meet up with his friends. It had been way too long since they'd had some fun.

"If you can't go to school, you can't go to the taco stand." Shirley reasoned.

"Look, I'd go to school if you just let me." Keith reminded her that he'd have gone back to his normal life the day he'd gotten out of the hospital. He felt like everyone was babying him.

"I know, I'm sorry." Shirley looked at her son's sad face. He really had suffered a lot lately. He'd been through so much both physically and emotionally that it was hard to stay mad at him. "I guess if you're not gone too long…..and, if you wear a jacket."

"It's hot outside." Keith complained.

"It's not hot. Wear a jacket or stay home – those are the two choices." Shirley planned to win one of their arguments.

"Fine." Keith quickly accepted her terms.

"Be home by dinner. And have a good time." Shirley yelled to his quickly departing back.

xoxo

"Partridge, man it's great to see you. You don't look sick." Skizzy said as he saw Keith walk up.

"I'm not." Keith assured him.

"Then why aren't you back at school?" Gordy asked as he turned to see his friend.

"The doctor hasn't released me to go back yet. I see him tomorrow. They'd keep me locked up in my room if they had their choice. What a bummer." Keith plopped down next to his friends.

"Well, you're free now." Gordy pointed out.

"Not for long. I have to be home by dinner." Keith grimaced.

"What are you twelve again?" Skizzy joked.

"Feels like it. Danny has more freedom than I do." Keith admitted.

"Keith!" Carol had just walked up with some of her friends.

"Carol!" Keith got up and pulled her into a kiss. "Man I missed you. Missed this."

"Ditto." Carol agreed quickly and kissed him again. "Who let you out?"

"Haha." Keith laughed at her phrasing. "I'm only here until dinner than I have to be back home."

"Poor baby." Carol crooned and hugged him close.

"That's exactly what I feel like. A baby. But, after tomorrow hopefully I'm a free man once again." Keith led Carol back to the picnic table.

"What's tomorrow?" Carol asked as she smiled at Gordy and Skizzy. "Hi guys."

"Dr. Hayes should release me to go back to my normal life. At least that's what I'm hoping for." Keith straddled the bench and pulled Carol against his body. God she felt good there.

"I'll keep you in my prayers tonight." Carol teased. Like he hadn't been there since they'd been kidnapped together.

"Thanks. So, if I get out of jail would you like to go to the drive-in on Friday?" Keith figured he'd get a really quick 'yes'. Boy was he surprised.

"Well, we have a little problem there." Carol bit her lip.

"What, you have a new boyfriend?" Keith said half jokingly. She better not!

"No, nothing like that. It's just that my dad has a little problem with me dating you." Carol said quietly.

"Why? He didn't before….Oh." Keith couldn't believe he hadn't seen this coming.

It's not like he was exactly surprised to hear that her father was turning overly protective. Hadn't his mother done the same thing?

But things were back to normal. No one had a plan to kidnap him anymore. Didn't her father get that?

"Maybe if you came for dinner and he saw how normal you were." Carol suggested.

"Keith? Normal?" Skizzy pointed out.

"Hey, no one asked you. I'm normal." Keith tried to defend himself.

"In whose world? Keith, you're about as normal as spots on a tiger or stripes on a leopard." Gordy reminded him.

"Whose side are you guys on?" Keith was getting ticked.

"Hey, don't go gettin' all mad Keith. We're just tellin' it like it is." Skizzy tried softening his comments with a weak smile.

"What are you talking about? There is nothing unusual about me or my life." Keith refused to see the obvious.

"Look over there." Skizzy nodded his head to the left.

Keith glanced that way and saw a bunch of girls quickly turn away when he glanced their way. "And over there." Skizzy directed him to the other side. Here the girls were older and didn't turn away when he looked, but flashed him 'come hither' smiles.

"What, it's just a bunch of girls." Keith was being his usual stubborn self and refusing to believe he was anything but normal.

"Who are all looking at you and wanting to kill Carol for being the focus of your attention." Gordy looked at Carol and apologized. "Sorry, but it is true."

"I know. I've gotten the death glare from several girls who used to call me 'friend' before I started dating Keith." Carol admitted.

"What? No way." Keith was really floored by that one.

"Way." Gordy backed up Carol's tale.

"Why does anyone go out with me?" Keith was dumbfounded.

"Several reasons actually." Carol leaned toward him and stole a quick kiss. "Would you like a list?"

"Really? Sure." Keith grinned at Carol and kissed her back not realizing how egotistical his comment might have sounded to people who didn't know him as well as the three he was talking to.

"Well, let's see, there's your cute butt." Carol laughed at Keith's wince. "Your cute hair." That one got an eye roll. "Your cute face." Keith mimed shooting himself in the head. "And, last but not least, your hurt ego that always needs kissing. Kissing that just so happens to be your absolute best quality. You do it better than anyone I've ever known."

"Geez, Connor. You're going to make me sick." Gordy groaned.

"Yeah, I just got done eating a taco and have no desire to see it quite so soon again." Skizzy gagged dramatically.

"You two are just jealous that your ego doesn't reside in your lips." Carol sassed back.

"You fell for that one?" Gordy laughed. "Partridge you sure do come up with some doozies."

"I do believe that you've just hurt my ego. Carol would you do the honors?" Keith leered at Carol who leaned over and proceeded to make it all better.

"Would you two knock it off? This is the taco stand not a motel." Skizzy smacked Keith on the shoulder; his sore shoulder. The shoulder he'd been overworking since he'd been home.

Keith's breath hissed over his gritted teeth as he jerked back from Carol.

"Skizzy! That's his bad shoulder." Carol said as she smacked Skizzy's hand before he could pull it back.

"Oh, man, Keith, I'm sorry." Skizzy said quickly.

"It's alright. It didn't hurt that much." Keith lied while he saw stars. Man, he'd hit it just right.

"Yeah, that's why you have beads of sweat on your forehead. Come on, let me drive you home." Skizzy offered. "Well, let Gordy drive you home. I don't have a car."

"No, really, it's alright." Keith hated to cut his first trip away from prison short.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Carol asked as she ran her fingers through his hair. Her fingers found the spot that had been shaved that was growing back. "Hey, you can't even see where they shaved your head."

"They shaved your head?" Gordy asked as he tried to see what Carol was talking about.

"Just a small spot. It's hidden under the rest." Keith said while he leaned into Carol's hand.

"Aww, here we go again. He's going for sympathy points Carol. Don't fall for it." Skizzy said all the while knowing Carol would be kissing Keith's hurt ego once again. "Geez, that's it. I feel like I'm watching soft porn."

"Jealous?" Carol asked when she pulled back from a grinning Keith.

"Of course I am." Skizzy admitted.

xoxo

Dr. Hayes released Keith to go back to school with the warning to 'take it easy' for the first few days. Yeah, right, like that was going to happen.

As soon as Reuben had gotten the green light, the family was booked for shows for the next month of weekends.

Shirley had thought long and hard about confronting her kids about their illegal night at the club in L.A. She'd go from planning to ground them until they were officially legal to forgetting the whole thing and never letting on that she knew about it.

She'd watched Keith work hard at his physical therapy so that he could get back to performing and it was that dedication that finally made her decide to let the whole thing go so long as they never did anything like it again. He'd suffered enough lately and the fact that he'd apparently had a whole lot of fun without drinking any alcohol had brought her a little comfort.

While Shirley was deciding on how to handle her two almost adult children's walk on the wild side, Keith had asked for her help in trying to figure out how to get Mr. Connor to let Carol go out on a date with him. So far, they'd just met after school and with other friends. If the two of them disappeared for a couple of hours each time, the friends didn't mention anything. They knew the two of them were in a bind. They'd do anything to help them out including making it seem like Keith and Carol weren't actually dating.

"Carol, my mom suggested the perfect way to get your dad to approve of our seeing each other." Keith said one night when he called her.

"What?" Carol had started to think all of her time with Keith would have to be clandestine.

"We're playing at the San Pueblo Anniversary at the park next weekend. My family will be picnicking right along with everyone else from San Pueblo. Why don't you and your parents join us?" Keith extended the invitation just as his mother had suggested.

"Oh, Keith, that's a great idea. He'll see what a normal family you are and that'll be the end of all his worries." Carol wished she wasn't talking to him on the phone. This suggestion deserved more then a verbal thanks.

"Let's hope so. We'll have to keep him far away from Danny, but otherwise it should work." Keith joked.

xoxo

Keith had forgotten about the press when he'd extended the invitation. Shirley had also invited Aimee to join them. And, if it had only been Aimee, things would probably have been alright.

Unfortunately for Keith, his stay in the hospital had become public knowledge though the story about what had put him there was not. There was more than the normal number of reporters trying to get the story.

He could barely move without a new reporter taking the place of the previous one asking him questions. So far, Carol and her parents hadn't arrived and Keith was hoping that if he answered all their questions they'd leave him alone sooner rather than later.

Reuben ended up setting up an impromptu press conference. He bargained with them that if they got their stories they were to leave the family alone for the rest of the day. Most agreed to the terms.

Keith and Shirley sat on the edge of the stage while the reporters threw question after question at them. They'd come up with the story that Keith had been out camping with friends when he'd gotten caught in a storm. From there he'd caught pneumonia because he hadn't been fully recovered from the bronchitis he'd had before. They believed them and most of them left to file their stories.

Keith glanced over the heads of the departing reporters to see Carol throwing him a nervous glance with her parents right behind her. Mr. Connor did not look happy.

Shirley took the situation in hand and moved forward to greet them.

"Mr. and Mrs. Connor, I'm so glad you could join us today. We're over here." Shirley waved them toward the two picnic tables the family had claimed as their own. She always put on quite the spread and with the Connors and Aimee they needed the extra space.

"Mrs. Partridge, thank you for inviting us." Mrs. Connor smiled. She had been trying to get her husband to agree to let Carol date Keith now that the threat was over, but so far she hadn't been successful.

"Shirley, please." Shirley invited her to use her first name.

"Amanda." Mrs. Connor did the same.

"Oh, you have the same name as my mother. I've always loved that name." Shirley smiled.

"Thank you." Amanda took Shirley's arm and they moved away to chat.

"Daddy, you remember Keith." Carol said as she pulled her father forward.

"Yes, of course. How are you?" Her father said stiltedly.

"Much better, thanks. Beautiful day for a picnic, don't you think?" Keith picked the weather as a safe topic.

"Yes, yes it is." Mr. Connor agreed and then just blurted it out. "My daughter thinks I should give her my blessing to date you again."

"I'd appreciate it if you'd allow it, sir." Keith said in his most respectful voice.

"How can I know she'll be safe?" Mr. Connor refused to pull his punches.

"Mr. Connor I don't know if you know anything about the people responsible, but let me tell you about why they did what they did." Keith relayed the story about Pete and Joey and what Pete and done to Laurie. He told him about how they'd been fired and that Pete had tried to get back at Keith by setting up the whole kidnapping scheme.

"So, you're telling me you don't plan on ticking off any more radio disc jockeys?" Mr. Connor had listened to Keith's story and finally realized that the circumstances were likely not to be repeated.

"So long as they keep their hands off my kid sister, then, no." Keith sheepishly agreed.

"Well, I guess I can understand why a brother would protect his sister. After all, I have two sisters of my own. Young man, your parents raised you right, didn't they?" Mr. Connor was starting to see some of the reasons why his daughter was attracted to the long haired singer.

"I'd like to think so, sir." Keith tried to keep his smile inside. He didn't want Mr. Connor to think he was gloating at having won him over so quickly.

"Well, let's see how the rest of this day goes and then I'll let you know if you're good enough for my daughter." Mr. Connor heard his wife calling him over and he waved to her before turning back to Keith and Carol. "Don't go where I can't see you."

"No, daddy." Carol watched her father walk away and quickly stole a kiss from Keith while his back was turned. "I never would have guessed that you'd win him over so quickly."

"Don't count your Partridges before they're hatched." Danny said as he walked up beside them.

"You were listening." Keith scowled at him.

"Hey, you're out in the open. I didn't see any 'no trespassing' signs." Danny sniffed.

"I still owe you a pounding from the hospital." Keith moved threateningly toward him.

Danny stayed in place. "Want me to yell? I'll just go running to mom and tell her how you're threatening me and guess who happens to be standing right next to her." Danny gloated when Keith backed off. "Thought that might change your mind."

"Danny!" Shirley had seen Danny by Keith and Carol and had noticed the look on Keith's face. She figured she'd help them out by calling Danny away. "Could you come here a minute?"

Keith and Carol had just started to stroll toward a tree to have a little time alone when Keith was hailed once again.

"Hi Keith." Aimee came up smiling. "Sorry I'm late. The traffic out of Frisco was worse than I'd anticipated. When do you perform your first song?"

"Not for several hours yet. Aimee, this is Carol." Keith pulled Carol forward. "Carol this is Aimee Keller. She's a reporter with Teen Magazine."

"So you're Carol." Aimee said knowingly drawing a confused look from Carol. "I had asked Keith down in L.A. why he hadn't picked up any girls at a party we were both at. He told me about this girl in San Pueblo that he was seeing. You're a lucky girl."

"Thank you, I think so." Carol smiled at Keith while she gripped his hand harder.

"I'm sorry to have interrupted. I'll catch up with you later. After you two have caught up." Aimee winked and walked away to find Laurie. Hopefully she wasn't preoccupied with a date herself or Aimee would be hard pressed to get her stories for the next edition.

Mr. Connor had been strolling not far away and had heard Aimee's comments to his daughter. He was further impressed by the young man who had obviously had the opportunity to cheat on his daughter and had let it pass by. Maybe the boy who he thought was too popular with girls to be a good boyfriend was actually more grounded than he'd have thought possible. Now if he could just be sure that the boy's popularity wouldn't cause his daughter physical harm, he'd be more comfortable with his decision to let them date.

xoxo

The Connors had been very complimentary of Shirley's cooking and baking skills. They were both stuffed with the delicious food Shirley had served. They'd watched all of the Partridge kids eat less than they'd have expected but had been reminded that they still needed to perform and it was hard to do that when you were too full to move.

"Wish I had followed your example." Mr. Connor ruefully admitted as he felt like waddling over to the band shell to watch the family's performance.

Mr. Connor watched the crowd and his daughter react to Keith while they performed. For the first several songs, he played the guitar and stayed on stage. The next couple of songs, he didn't need to play and Keith wandered the crowd feeling safe in his home town. He flirted with many girls but would just as quickly turn away and charm a girl several feet away.

Mr. Connor frowned as he watched the young man charm the crowd, especially the girls.

"He's very good isn't he?" Aimee leaned toward Mr. Connor.

"At flirting? Yes, he is." Mr. Connor said a little stiffly.

"Mr. Connor it's all an act. Just watch him closely." Aimee pointed out the subtle differences in Keith's performance versus what Mr. Connor had seen between Keith and Carol. She'd learned to read Keith from Laurie who was as close to him as anyone. "It's all an act. A very good act, but an act."

"Yes, I think I see what you mean." Mr. Connor watched the young man taunt and tease - all to get the people, the girls to enjoy the show.

"He's really a very good showman for someone so young. He realizes that he has to give big parts of himself while he's on stage. He has to let people see what he's feeling and thinking while he's singing to them. It's truly a thing of beauty when it's done right." Aimee shook her head. It was her first time seeing him sing from the audience. She'd seen him from backstage a few weeks before and she'd seen him 'perform' at the party, but this was a whole other level. Personally, she preferred the guy she'd gotten to know on a personal level – especially the one in the towel. She sighed in memory and then quickly pushed it away. They would have a professional relationship and that was it.

Carol was a lucky girl.

xoxo

Keith had just closed the back of the bus after finishing packing up. He turned and his arms were filled with a laughing Carol.

"He's agreed to let us date." She hugged him close.

"Really?" Keith pulled her back to see her face. Yep, it was just as radiantly happy as it had been when she'd first walked up.

Carol nodded and then pulled his head down for a kiss.

"Think you can keep that thought long enough for me to borrow the keys to the station wagon and then we can continue this at Muldoon's Point?" Keith pushed her away as he heard his family approaching around the bus.

"It won't be easy, but I'll wait." Carol grabbed his hand and thought to herself 'I'd wait a lot longer than that.'

_The End_


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